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Hoops to fly on the Bayou with the Warhawk skiing team
BAINBRIDGE – A large gathering of students, family and friends came to take in a sight that might be a long time coming again last week.
While collegiate signings are nothing new, it is what Samie Hoops committed herself to at the University of Louisiana-Monroe that is well outside the normal scope of high school athletics as Hoops will be joining the Warhawk skiing team starting in the 2024-25 school year.
Set along the banks of the Bayou DeSiard, the campus is located on the northeastern side of Monroe and in the upper reaches of Louisiana, approximately an hour away from Arkansas to the north.
“I went (to Louisiana-Monroe) and was blown away by the way the campus was set up,” Hoops said. “(Bayou DeSiard) is a walk from the apartments and dorm rooms. Everything is very close and easy to get to where everywhere else, you had to drive 20 minutes to get to the lake.
“I was fortunate enough to tour the nursing program with the president of the nursing school. The way everything was laid out made sense and it felt very comfortable.
“People would be supporting me there where at other places, I might get drowned out by how big the school was,” Hoops added. “I’ve skied with (Louisiana-Monroe head coach Zane Nicholson) before and he knew how I had skied before my injury, so it was nice to have that level of comfort with the coach.”
Hoops added that her experience with a knee injury helped shape her course of study.
“I want to major in nursing and minor in exercise science,” Hoops said. “I want to do something in sports medicine, working as an orthopedic nurse.”
Being on the water is something Hoops said came natural as her father, Kent, had her out on the water from a very young age.
“I first started skiing when I was two years old,” Hoops said. “My dad had skied before, not to the same level I have, but had skied at tournaments for fun.
“My first competition was when I was eight years old. I started double skiing when I was two, having two skis with a bar in-between, then started slalom skiing when I was five. I was also wakeboarding a lot because my dad wanted me out on the water as much as possible.
“At eight, I started trick skiing and at 10, I started jump skiing, which you can’t do until you’re a certain age,” Hoops added.
The three skiing events make up the balance of competitive skiing.
“The combination of slalom, trick and jump skiing make up competitive skiing,” Hoops said. “Slalom is going around buoys; if you get through all six, you speed up until you reach a certain point, then the next pass line gets shorter and shorter.
“Trick skiing is like gymnastics on the water; you’re doing flips, tricks with your foot in the rope and all that is based on a points system. Jump is about distance off a five-foot ramp.
“The top speed I can go is 32 mph and is based on how far you can get off the ramp,” Hoops added. “It’s really hard. You have to compress as you go up the ramp and push off very hard without breaking down. It’s a big science experience.”
Hoops said her skiing experiences had taken her from local lakes such as Hawothorne and Kodiak to places all around the country, counting Illinois, Florida, Texas, Minnesota, Kansas and Idaho among the places she had competed.
Competitions have included the Water Ski National Championships and as a member of the American team at the Can-Am Games in 2021.
The experience Hoops has will serve her well at Louisiana-Monroe, a powerhouse in the collegiate skiing world.
Holding 29 national titles, the Warhawks compete through the National Collegiate Water Ski Association, finishing as runner-up in the 2023 finals to Louisiana-Lafayette.
Competition runs year-round with the national finals in the fall before the competition cycle picks back up in February and March.
Joining such a prestigious program in the sport was a goal Hoops had from a young age, one that was nearly derailed last year thanks to a knee injury suffered during basketball season.
“(Louisiana-Monroe) is a very strong program,” Hoops said. “They’ve won 29 national championships, more than any other sport at the school.
“They have finished in the top-three for a long while and finished runner-up this past year. I’m excited to join; ever since I was little, I’ve wanted to go to a big school and get a scholarship for skiing.
“That was always my dream as a kid,” Hoops added. “That it’s still coming true, even after my injury, is crazy. I know I’m going to get to work early this spring to get back to where I was, if not better.”
Though injured late in the 2022-23 basketball season, Hoops said she was determined to get out on the water before 2023 ended and was able to accomplish that goal.
“I wasn’t supposed to be cleared for eight months to ski,” Hoops pointed out. “I wasn’t really focusing on basketball. I wanted to know when I could ski before the water got too cold to go out on.
“I was fortunate enough and worked hard to get cleared in six months post-op. My first time skiing after the injury was the first weekend before leaving for my brother’s nationals in August. I wasn’t able to compete like I used to, just ride around the boat and doing basic tricks.
“It was crazy to get back out on to the water,” Hoops added. “It was like everything was lifted off me and I knew I had made it.”
While the knee injury might have scared some off, Hoops said her connection with head coach Nichols helped alleviate concerns about whether she was committed to coming back.
“I had done a couple of HO clinics or Syndicate clinics, which are one of my sponsors,” Hoops noted. “Nicholson is a lead sponsor, a pro sponsor, who worked at those clinics and he saw me ski at the events, the first time when I was 12 and later when I was 14 or 15.
“I’ve always been a very consistent skier, not always first but my scores will always be the same. That consistency and getting better every year was a big part of why he trusted me. He knew my work ethic and knew I would keep working to improve.”
While it might take some time to get back to where she was before the injury, Hoops said it she was excited to go to Louisiana-Monroe and to a team that was ready to welcome her in.
“I’m fortunate enough to go with two of my best friends, one from Missouri and one from Illinois,” Hoops said. “We’ll be the freshmen females on the team. The team itself was very welcoming, so I’ll have help finding my classes and help with my dorm stuff.”