H2O For Life

© rumbum.com Andrea Barrack

H20 at Board Up Miami 2009

A gaggle of bright eyed boys congregated on the shore as wakeboarders flew across the aqua terrain and into the air with the greatest of ease. "I want to learn how to do that!" exclaimed one young observer named Tywan. Tywan is one of the dynamic Zulu Warriors hailing from The Belafonte-Tacolcy Center in Liberty City. The Zulu Warrios (a mentor program comprised of about 30 boys ages 8-12) and their Program Director, Deen Tyler, were invited to attend BoardUp Miami by festival co-creators, the Strauss brothers. The entrepreneurial duo, along with their father, "Coach Robert" of SwimGym fame, also helped launch the H2O Foundation, a non-profit organization encouraging participation in aquatic sports as part of an active and healthy lifestyle. "Last summer, we got a chance to try wakeboarding," Tyler explained. "A lot of them liked it, so maybe we've got a potential wakeboarder in the group." Thanks to BoardUp Miami's partnership with the H2O program, Tywan just might get his wish.

Tywan, an animated youngster whom Tyler calls his PR, explained that he loves to swim after learning from H2O last year. "It was really simple for us," he said, "and now I know how to swim." Tywan added that this year the Zulu Warriors came to BoardUp to watch the wakeboarders do tricks and to show their support - a statement evoking a chorus of woops, woo hoos, and "You rock!" for the athletes. "There's a lot of personality in that group," Tyler laughed. "Everyone is a character."

Though the group didn't get in the water on Friday at BoardUp, they sure didn't stay off the water. To make sure they had a brag-worthy experience without even needing a pair of trunks, New Zealand pro, Jeff Weatherall, escorted Tyler and the youngsters to the athlete's dock where they boarded one of the Epic Wake Boats and were treated to a front row demonstration by world famous wakeboarders.

Tyler, who says his group of boys evokes memories of his own childhood finds great reward in watching them make positive steps towards an active future with the help of H2O. "I feel like I'm not only fulfilling my civic duty, but my spiritual duty as far as being responsible for the children and investing in them so they can have a fair opportunity at a decent future." Similarly, Alan Strauss recalled one pivotal moment after teaching a child to swim at H2O: "When you spend four hours with a child who is nine or ten years old, and they say to you ‘This is the greatest day of my life'... that makes you melt."