Generally speaking, when someone is successful at one thing, they tend to be successful at lots of things.
For successful businesspeople, that drive to succeed doesn’t just switch off when they leave the office at night. So it shouldn’t come as a surprise that the Mad-City Ski Team, 10-time national water skiing champions and the most recent overall state champions, boasts a roster full of prominent business owners and executives from Dane County and the surrounding area.
One of the team’s show directors, Matt Heilman, a realtor with Stark Company Realtors and a former English teacher, notes of the team’s 155 members, many are busy professionals, including David Fink, founder and president of Settlers bank; Dan Jaworski, president of Championship Awards; John Kothe and Teri Bell, partners at Kothe Real Estate Partners; Leah Straub DDS and Randy Straub DDS, owners of Village Family Dental and Parkview Dental Associates, respectively; Sandy Ager, DC, owner of Ager Chiropractic Wellness Center; Patrick Walters, CEO of Wickcraft, and many, many more.
Heilman says business success and competitive water skiing go well together. The executives involved love the sport, but more than that, they can afford it.
“Boat ownership isn’t cheap,” Heilman explains. “Successful people are drawn to the lakes and to water sports. [They] fall in love with this sport and can’t get away. They navigate their busy business lives to allow some free time for enjoying the lakes and enjoying water skiing.
Heilman also says successful businesspeople often find a way to effectively balance their work and home lives. “Not everything is about work 24/7.”
As fun as it is, the success the team has on the water wouldn’t be possible without some serious dedication away from the office.
“Our main show team practices on Tuesday and Thursday and has shows on Sunday,” Heilman says. “We also have a Junior Team that practices on Monday nights and we have an open/optional practice on Wednesday nights. Many business professionals on the team give up four nights per week for the ski team.”
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What’s particularly interesting about the businesspeople on the Mad-City Ski Team, Heilman notes, are the attributes they bring to the team that helped make them so successful in business.
“We find that people bring to the ski team the ability to work hard and focus on the task at hand,” he says. “It takes a lot of preparation, practice, and training to develop our show to an elite level. These people in the business world have experienced success, they know how to work with people, and they know the hard work it takes to be successful.”
Conversely, Heilman says they’re also taking some of the fun they experience on the water back into other parts of their lives. “I hope that people take their passion for the ski team and inject that into their work and their family. What we do is a labor of love. It’s a passion. It’s fun. People can take a lot away from being in this water ski organization.
“The adrenaline rush is part of it,” he continues. “The break from their work day is another. And the ability to enjoy the Madison lakes is another. The ski team is a family. It’s a family of people from all walks of life that come together for a common goal. We have teachers, students, business owners, stay-at-home moms, bankers, engineers, entrepreneurs, and much, much more. All of these people have a common bond on the ski team and that makes it unlike any other.”
The Mad-City Ski Team competes in the 41st Indmar Marine Engines Division 1 Show Ski National Championships this weekend, August 7–9, at Shorewood Park in Loves Park, IL.
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