Back in November of 2010 when I heard that Ron Scarpa was getting inducted into the Hall of Fame, I immediately highlighted the weekend on my calendar and made a note to make plans to attend.  A few weeks later, I received a call from Todd Ristorcelli of Waterski Magazine asking me if I could help organize an Eagle Sports photo & video shoot in Orlando.  My reply: "I have the perfect weekend in mind.  The weekend of Ron's HOF induction".  I knew it would be a great time to get the team together as well as attend the ceremony. 

The plan:  Drive 16 hours from Houston, Texas to Orlando, Florida with boat in tow, spend 2 days working with Waterski Magazine and without a doubt, attend Ron's induction, then drive 16 hours back home.  Hopefully get at least 5 hours sleep each day.

Attending the ceremony was never a doubt.  The greatest name the sport has ever known was getting honored in front of the who's who in waterskiing.  Ron's been a part of every footers life in some way or another.  Whether that be instruction, competition, coach, business, boat ownership, or thru inspiring us by showing what we are capable of given hard work.  Ron has been the face and ambassador of the sport for as long as I can remember.  He's trained and coached nearly every competitive and casual footer I know at one time or another.  He's won every 3-event barefoot competition in the world multiple times while at the same time running the most successful barefoot school and most importantly, while raising a family.  Every athlete currently making a living running a ski school or pro shop has modeled their businesses after Ron Scarpa Watersports. 

I first met Ron Scarpa in 1996.  I've attended his school & clinics, competed against him in endurance races, and enjoyed long conversations with him ranging from skiing to architecture (one of his passions), to kids, how the sport is governed, and the watersports business.  When I established BarefootCentral.com in 1998, Ron didn't know what to think of it.  Would I be around for the long hull or would I just come and go like most websites do.  Over the years, Ron and I have had an up and down relationship.  As BarefootCentral.com grew, he viewed us as a competitor in one respect, but also recognized BFC as a media source to the sport that he could utilize.  He would tell people "I may not agree with everything Chuck does or says, but he knows the market very well and knows how to promote his team or events he supports".  The thing I respected most about Ron throughout all the years of our business and personal relationship was that he would never slam the communication door totally shut.  No matter what was happening, or being said, we both felt comfortable enough to pick up the phone and call the other about the business and sport in general.  He has 2nd sense to know who to keep at arms length and who to lean on for advise.  Our shared passion for the sport itself was the common ground we both shared. 

When I purchased Eagle Sports in 2006, Ron had just left Eagle and was planning to ski in and sell Vortex wetsuits.  One of my first calls as the new owner of Eagle was to Ron to inform him that we intended to earn his business back.  I couldn't stand seeing him in a competitor's wetsuit, especially a China made product .  I promised to earn the business back by re-establishing ourselves as the premiere service provider in the market.  We'd establish programs that made it easier for our dealers to do business with us.  We'd find ways to allow him to better compete against and co-exist with BFC.  It took two years, and when Ron Scarpa Watersports re-signed with Eagle Sports, we knew we were headed in the right direction.  Without Ron's ability to keep that communication door open, it might not have happened.  He's proven to be as much a champion in business as he was a champion on the water. 

Ron called me up in February and asked if I'd edit the video that would be shown at his Hall of Fame induction ceremony.  He had boxes of old VHS tapes and didn't have a clue what all was on them or how to get them into a 4 min video.  I agreed to take a shot at it.  When a box of about 10 tapes and a half dozen DVDs showed up, it was a bit overwhelming.  Take all this stuff and combine it into a 4 min video.  I hadn't seen so much of it and was calling him telling him we needed more time.  "We have to share this stuff with the barefoot world", I'd say.  He'd reply "Do what you can with it, but Carol Lowe is limiting us to 4 minutes".  It was a big project, but in the process of doing it, I got a renewed education of his accomplishments and his life.  I did manage to sneak in a couple extra minutes.  After seeing it, Carol was OK with it.  Click on the link below to view the video.  Please remember, a lot of this footage was very old and quality is a bit shaky.