Date: 7/15/02
Author: Dallas Friday

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When Every Day is Friday: The Dallas Friday Interview

Dallas Friday & Parks Bonifay (Pic: Lloyd Murray)

I am still here in Kelowna, B.C. I finished the photo shoot with Bare this week. I am so glad I signed with Bare because they are so much fun and we had a blast!

I took Thursday off from the shoot to go teach a clinic with Gerry Nunn. Gerry Nunn is definitely one of the nicest guys in the sport of wakeboarding. He is a great rider and a great role model. He and I have always related so well with one another and I was glad we got to do a clinic together. It was fun and I know the people all enjoyed the clinic.

I decided to ride yesterday at the mens pro tour stop just for fun and the experience. I knew I was still rusty and needed to be in training more but I did OK. The water was so rough that everyone was having a hard time riding. In wakeboarding, you never know what conditions you are going to get; you hope for smooth water but a lot of times this isn't the case. It was fun, though, and I am glad I did it. Quarter finals were yesterday and I just missed getting into the semis today by one spot. But I felt OK about my run, just disappointed with the conditions we had to ride in.

Wakeboarding is all about having fun. If you lose the focus of having fun and take things too seriously, you put unwanted stress on yourself and you cannot possibly enjoy it. I always try to have fun even when I train everyday. We all like to joke around and continue to do so even at the pro stops.

I get back to Orlando Monday night and am home for 2 days. Then I head out for Sacramento, California. I am looking forward to the two days I am home to go train with my coach. It seems like it has been so long since I have been able to train with him. I will let you know what tricks he has me working on and what he has me preparing to do for the Malibu Open in Sacramento. Then after that tournament comes the all important Gravity Games that I will be in daily training for. But of course, I will be having fun training for it!

~Dallas

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