Dear BFC:

I would like to nominate my girlfriend's dad & my barefoot coach Brett "Budgie" Ryan for footer of the month. I owe him so much for introducing this sport to me. Budgie has been barefooting since a teenager, before he even knew the sport existed. He didn’t know about boom bars, or barefoot suites back then, he would just hand on to a long rope out the back of a tinny in a pair of stubbies, and hopefully make it onto his feet somehow and he's been cutting mongrel ever since. Now 42 years old, working full time and raising his family, he still tries his hardest to put the success craft in on the weekends. So passionate about the sport he even hopes he can one day develop a ski school/ camp on his riverside property.

The guy is a machine, before Christmas he had major surgery on his shoulder because he had been skiing with ripped ligaments for so long.. and after a brutal wipeout on the water one weekend, he experienced intense pain in his chest and through to his neck. A cat scan revealed that his neck is broken in two places, one from that weekends wipeout and another from months before. HE'S BEEN SHREDDING WITH A BROKEN NECK THIS WHOLE TIME. Not to worry, the breakages are minor and should heal in time.

He has done so much for me the last few years, taken me and others under his wing, he's pushed me to learn to barefoot, spent so much time and effort so ensure we have as much fun in the sport as he does. Budgie has taught so many people in our small area so much about this sport, and we appreciate it so much.

Cheers
Jordan McFarlane

Congratulations Brett.  Keep up the great work and don't kill yourself!  I'm 43 and can feel your pain.  The good news is you're now eligible to be voted 2009 Footer of the Year....Chuck Gleason BFC

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