When:        Sept 16-17, 2009
Where:       Twin Cities Ski Club just South of Sacramento, California

When Willie Farrell heard that Andre De Villiers was coming to the US again this year, he called us to inquire about having us come to Sacramento, California for a Freestyle Barefoot Clinic.  He explained how Andre's videos have inspired both young and old to take to the water to learn side slides, dolphins, jumps, etc...  He thought it would be great to introduce Andre to what we call the West Coast Barefoot Scene.

So we (Andre & I) packed our bags and headed West.  The plan was to do a three day clinic in Sacramento, then head to Discovery Bay to participate in a charity waterski show on the Delta being held to raise money for abandoned and abused children.  (We'll have a separate story coming for that event).

When we arrived in Sacramento, we rented a care and headed to Willie and Dawn Farrell's place.  Willie and Dawn are very gracious every time we visit Sacramento. They have a very active life.  Willie is in sales and Dawn works for the financial industry.  They have two boys (Graham 9 and Byron 14) that keep them hopping from one athletic event to another.  The boys are both great athletes and currently play baseball.  We always have a blast with the kids.  Andre in particular had fun playing jokes on the boys and showing them South African techniques for messing with your brother.  It was very entertaining watching the two boys try to get the best of Andre.  One morning, while Andre was in the shower, the oldest son Byron, took a pitcher of ice water and knocked on the window that is above the shower.  He told Andre he needed some help with the trampoline that was just outside the window.  When Andre slid the window open to hear him better, Byron dumped the entire pitcher on him.  We could hear the scream from across the house.  Dawn and I would sit at breakfast and chuckle as the boys would mess with each other.  Let's just say Byron took off to school very quickly after the cold shower he gave Andre.

We had planned for 3 days of clinics.  Willie wanted the trip to be relaxing and enjoyable for us, so he scheduled the 1st day as a sight seeing day.  So we (Andre & I) jumped in the car and headed to downtown Sacramento for lunch. We toured all around town checking out the sites of California's Capital city.

For those of you who haven't traveled anywhere with Andre, I'll just say it's never boring.  Last year, during our bus trip to Footstock, (click here if you haven't read it), Andre introduced me to the Slug-Bug game he and his family play on trips.  It's a game where when you see a VW Beatle, you slug someone as you say slug-bug.  We took the game to a whole new level.  Instead of hitting each other, we did it for points (a new style Beatle=1pt, Old School Beatles=2pts,  Old School Bus=3pts, and a VW Dealership=5pts, miscall something and you loose the number of points of the miscalled item).  Very simple game, but due to the fact that I came up with the Slug-Bug keychain plaque, which gives the winner the right to dictate what we do, where we go, where we stay, who sleeps where?, where we eat, and so on, it became the ultimate prize to have.  Nothing pleases Andre more than being able to tell me he kicked my ace in Slug-Bug and then be able to tell me what we're doing and when we're doing it.  But after the road-trip to Footstock, which consisted of 29hrs each way, I won the plaque and more importantly the right to claim myself International Slug-Bug Champion and continued pleasure of telling Andre to sit in the back seat.

That being said, Andre was bound and determined to convince me to have a re-match.  He challenged me to a 3 round series on this trip to the US.  We had already completed Round #1, which was held during our drive from Milwaukee, WI to Crandon, WI, and back during our Footstock trip this year (which I won).  Andre wanted to see a 3rd round show-down, so he had to win Round #2.  We determined Round #2 would be a day trip from Sacramento, Ca to San Francisco.  We had a feeling San Francisco would be packed with old school VW beatles.  So click on the video link below to see how our trip to see the Golden Gate Bridge turned out and who won Round #2.

Days 2 and 3 would consist of skiing all day at the Twin Cities ski club about 23 miles South of Sacramento.  Willie had done a great job organizing the clinic.  He had printed out a daily schedule that listed all the skiers and what they wanted to work on.  He then went over the list with us talking about each skier, their abilities, and what we should expect to see from them.  Willie's attention to detail was second to none.  Willie's only mistake was listing off  all the things he did not want Andre to do, such as jumping over his boat, jumping in and out, certain side slides etc...  We had a wonderful time meeting all the footers that ski with Willie.  We even had a skier fly in from Las Vegas to ski with us.  We had great weather and plenty of smooth water.  They skied on a private lake that was about 3000 feet long.  When the wind blew the lake out, we would move to the canal that ran adjacent to the lake, which was part of the California Delta system, which consists of over a thousand miles of skiable waterways.

Click Here to see a video Roy Carterrelli sent us after attending the clinic...a SacFooter Production

 

< Andy Conway is now stylin in Andre's Eagle Fury Barefoot suit.  Andre autographed it for him.     Willie shows off his collection of Team USA Eagle Suits >
	Willie on the boat with good friend Pepper Benz

Thanks again to all the footers that attended the clinic and made our trip a memorable one:  Andy Conway, Andy McCarville, Kimmen "Vegas" Olsen, Mark Hobson, Joe Jacinto, Jeremia, Uba City Dave, Roy Coterill, and photographer Jim Leash

Chuck Gleason
Team BFC, Team Eagle Sports