While most find themselves driving to the lake for a mini-vacation in the summer, senior Kai Stidham has that luxury in his backyard. Stidham has lived at Grandview Lake for all 17 years of his life, which influenced him to start wakeboarding.

“When I was seven years old I saw all of the other lake kids wakeboarding and I wanted to try it out,” Stidham said. “I was fearless so I caught on to it really fast.”

Shortly after learning how, he started competitive wakeboarding. He and his family then chose to have him leave Saint Bartholomew to become homeschooled in fifth and sixth grade to be able to spend more time in wakeboarding.  

“Once I was homeschooled my schedule was very different from others my age. I would wake up and go to the gym, come home and eat, do two hours of school work and then go wakeboarding every day by 11,” Stidham said. “After that, I would come in for lunch and a little downtime, and then go right back to wakeboarding.”

When Stidham was at his peak of wakeboarding he earned himself the title of third-best in the whole world. For eight years he consistently was going to wakeboarding competitions and kept his grueling schedule of homeschooling for two years, until he made the choice to return to public school in 7th grade. 

“I loved getting to wakeboard all day, but I also missed seeing my friends,” Stidham said. “Once I got to high school I wanted to spend time doing other sports too and started football.” 

Stidham stopped wakeboarding as competitively as he had been to play football but still does it recreationally at Grandview with all his lake friends. 

“I am planning to go to Indiana University (IU) next year and join their IU Water Ski & Wakeboard Team,” Stidham said. “I am looking forward to getting back into wakeboarding at competitions.”