Stuart is one of the founding members of Barefoot Central.  He's been skiing and footing on the Brazos River for at least 7-8 years.  Of the original Barefoot Central gang, Stuart, my wife Michele and I, are the only ones left still barefooting.  Luckily, we have picked up many new footers and friends at the river over the years, but as Stuart and I get older, we often look back and take note of the progress we each have made, and we're the only ones that have that frame of reference.

Stuart is what I would classify as a Natural Athlete.  As a kid, he was the California State skateboard champion, and he is also a gifted race car driver.  When I first met Stuart on the river, he stuck out from all of our friends as the footer with the most natural talent.  

I, on the other hand, am quite the opposite.  Nothing has ever come easy for me.  My basketball coach always told me I was too slow, couldn't jump, couldn't shot, but the one thing he did like about me was that I was convinced I could make up for all my short-comings with shear determination and a "Never Give Up" attitude.  I've had to use that attitude many times over the years as I learned new barefoot tricks.  

Stuart's natural talent has allowed him to spend a hand-full of weekends at the river each year and still progress at a steady pace, picking up 2 or 3 new tricks each year.  Toe-ups took him a couple of sets to conquer, front one-foot wakes came easy, and even back to fronts were a breeze.  I kept telling him he would hit a wall some day, and that everyone eventually pays the piper.  I don't know if either one of us really believed it would happen to Stuart, but that day final presented itself when he decided to learn Front-to-Backs on his feet.  What seemed a breeze on shoe-skis, all of the sudden, was 100 times harder on his feet.  Stuart's natural "step-under" style has reeked havoc on his ability to pick this trick up quickly.

Stuart spent most of last summer working the Front to Back.  Progress has been very slow, but he is right on the verge and can finally taste it.  His frustration over not being able to ski one away is at it's peek.  His goal was to do a F-B before he turned 40, and unfortunately, that didn't happen.  Stuart turned 40 on Feb 12th.  Though he was disappointed, he has not given up.  He has continued to foot through the winter months.  Water temps in Dallas this winter have dropped in the low 40s, and despite the bone chilling cold, Stuart has been going out with me at least every other weekend to work on the trick that has become his nemesis.  Falling over and over again in 42 degree water does not go down as a fun day at the lake.  

This last weekend was the first time I heard Stuart mutter the words "Maybe it's not worth all the effort".  I quickly told him that even if it takes him 2 or 3 years to make only one front to back in his life, the feeling he will have the first time he rides one away will make it all worth it.  I can still remember how I felt my first time just like it was yesterday.  And to this day, surface turns are the coolest, and still at times the most frustrating tricks I do.

So I'm nominating Stuart as a Footer of the Month for all the hard work he has put into his footing over the last year.  He has elevated his footing to a new level, and is on the verge of becoming a member of a select group of footers that can lay claim to mastering front to back surface turns.  But until he masters this trick, I'm going to leave these great photos of him on the site.  If he doesn't have the "balls" to stick with it, we'll have these pictures framed and hung at the river for eternity.  How's that for motivation big guy?

For all of those footers out there that know what Stuart is going through, email him some words of encouragement at stuart@stuartspnb.com.