Each month, I sit back and think real hard about who should be a Footer of Month.  We've been doing the FOM since 1999, and each month gets a little bit harder to find someone that displays the qualities and traits we're looking for.  If you've ever wondered what we use a criteria, here's my thought process:

• The candidate has to be someone that could potentially be a good Footer of the Year

• They exhibit a love and passion for the sport.

• They're passionate about helping others.

• They inspire others to want to try the sport.

• They might have just accomplished something they've been working on for a long time, whether it be a new trick or maybe winning an event, or even posting a personal best score.

• Most importantly, someone has to take the time to sit down to write why they would be a good candidate for Footer of the Month.  Someone taking the time to put down how they feel about a person in writing means a lot more than just saying it.

We've had a great mix of skiers over the years as both Footer's of the Month and Footer's of the Year.  Skiers that just do the sport for fun such as Tom Hart and Kevin O'Connell, to some of the best skiers in the world such as Ron Scarpa, Willie Farrell, Paul Stokes, and Keith St Onge.  We've had men, women and kids of all ages.

December is always a tough month to pick.  This candidate only gets a few weeks to have people read about them before we start voting for Footer of the Year.  All the other candidates have had months to work on getting all their family and friends ready to start the voting.  So December is a bit behind the eight-ball as they say.

As I was working down my list of reasons to nominate someone, I kept thinking that 2008 has been an amazing year.  We've seen so many great videos, and many tricks that have never been seen on video, or even been done before.  Tricks such as the switch blade side slide, overhead 360, back flip out of the boat, dolphin start, one handed back tumble up, back flip roll over another skier, jump out of the boat and land backwards, push off the boat with your foot do a front to back in the air and land backwards, the frog slide, jump out of the boat land on your stomach and pop to your feet, overhead 180, two handle front to back, and the list goes on.....

So who's been doing all these tricks?  The same names keep coming up.  The De Villiers boys.  It started out with Andre De Villiers doing hand plants and crazy side slides, and then in 2008, he got his younger brother Zane to come out on the water with him and show the world what he could do.  It's at that point we saw the excitement level of the sport jump to a whole new level.  Zane jumped onto the scene with the Overhead 360 and one handed back tumble up.  And the boys have run with it from there.

This year has been like a barefoot thrill ride.  You can't have a conversation with anyone in the sport today without the names of Andre and Zane De Villiers coming up.  Comments like: "Amazing", "Out of this World", "Freaks of Nature", "Fearless", "Crazy", "Bubbling with excitement", "Creative", and maybe the most important comment, "Inspiring", are commonly heard when you hear people describe them.

These two brothers have given the sport a boost of energy that hasn't been seen since the days of Scarpa and Siepel as those two guys were out inventing new starts and tricks.

The ultimate compliment a footer can get in this sport (which goes beyond even winning a medal) is to be known for inventing a new trick(s) and then have footers around the world want to learn those tricks.  Another great compliment is to have skiers want to mimic your style or way you perform even the simplest of tricks such as a body slide.  For instance, Ron Scarpa inspired the De Villiers brothers and hundreds of other skiers around the world to try the side-slide.  Andre then took that trick to a whole new level and now does the switch blade side slide that has people scratching their heads wondering how he does it.  Andre and Zane have placed there mark on the sport and will not doubt be recognized as two of the most talented footers to ever hit the water.  And they have everyone trying their new stuff.  Lane Bowers practiced for a year learning Andre's frog slide so he could do it in front of Andre at the 2006 Worlds.  Chris Morrison worked hard to be the first US skier to do the Overhead 360 on video.  Keith St Onge is adding Andre's moves such as hand plants and side slides to his videos so he can show everyone he can also do the new freestyle moves.  Legends like Scott Pellaton and Willie Farrell are learning side slides.  And most importantly, skiers of all ages are learning starts like the dolphin start and how to jump in and out of the boat, and how to have fun expressing themselves on the water.  Here's what some of the sports legends are saying about them:

Mike Siepel:  "I can't believe how strong these boys are.  Even in my prime, when I was at my strongest, I couldn't do that stuff.  I really like watching these guys..."

Peter Fleck:  "They're amazing.  I'm so glad to see the sport's developing.  I love watching Andre ski.  He seems to be having so much fun and makes it look so easy.  I skied with their dad and have enjoyed watching them develop...."

Scarpa:  "They've definitely taken a trick I called my own (the slide slide) and made it theirs.  But they'd better crank it up a notch, because the Bull's working on the switch blade.  And you know what you get when you mess with the bull?"

Scott Pellaton:  "The only thing I can say to describe them is INSPIRING.  I haven't wanted to foot for years and they have me getting out there on the boom to see if I can do that stuff.  Oh to be 30 years younger...."

Despite all their talent, Zane and Andre are two of the most approachable and likeable skiers on the planet.  You can't be around them without feeling their excitement, love of the sport, and love of watching others learn new things.  Many skiers will learn a new trick and then refuse to teach it to others so they have an advantage.  Andre and Zane are quite the opposite.  They have visions of thousands of skiers doing hand plants, side-slides, flip-overs, etc... all competing against each other in worldwide Freestyle competitions.  They know that the more people they can get to freestyle foot, the more media we'll all get to see and the more popular the sport will become in general.  But until that time, they'll continue to push themselves to new limits all while the camera is rolling.  Recently, they've gotten Heinrich Sam involved and we're now seeing some of his extraordinary talent.  Heinrich is 4 years younger than Andre and has all the tricks in his arsenal to be one of the top 3-Eventers and Freestylers of all time.  Andre and Heinrich are competing at the highest levels ever seen, while at the same time remaining the best of friends helping each other attain new goals.  They're showing us all how it should be done.  Andre's the first on the dock to congratulate Heinrich, Zane, or any other skier when they post a higher score than Andre.  He's genuinely excited when others do well.

So for all these reasons, I've selected Andre and Zane De Villiers and co-Footers of the Month for December 2008.

If you've been living on another planet the last couple years, and have not seen any of the De Villier's videos, Click Here

Sincerely,
Chuck Gleason

Dear Chuck, 

Excellent choice on December Barefooters of the Month. If I could I would like to add a few comments about Andre and Zane. As you may recall you stopped by and skied with Tom, Kevin and I in St. Charles Illinois on the way up to Footstock. All of us, like the rest of the planet, have been watching these guys on video’s provided by Barefootcentral.com.  When watching the incredible things these two have been doing I can say we were all a bit intimidated when they came up. I can say these guys cut the tension very fast. I could not believe that they wanted to help others and teach the things they themselves invented. It is one thing to be a great skier, but these guys are just normal people that want to help others and promote the sport.  I can say we all learned so much and these guys helped breathe new life into our skiing and what is possible. These guys are thinking of the impossible and then passing it on and that’s unique and an admirable quality. One of the things I like about barefooting is the willingness to help others. Andre and Zane take this to an extraordinary level with their willingness to help and teach, and to above all have fun. Andre and Zane are in two words “completely infectious” and we should all be inspired by their actions and pass it on to others in the sport.  Credit goes to you also for bring their talents to the light of all of us.

Best Regards, Mark B. Vogel - Marengo Illinois 60152

Congratulations boys!  Now lets see if you're as good campaigning for votes off the water as you are skiing on the water. 

Check out the other Footer's Of the Month