A junior Cairns extreme sports wakeboarder is on the cusp of making his dream come true

Arguably one of Cairns best young Wakeboarders will get his final opportunity to make the Worlds team as he takes on the ‘Winter Wonderland Wakeboarding Event’ this weekend.

One of Cairns best young WakeBoarders, Elijah Anderson (12), will compete at the National Wakeboarding competition at Cairns Wake Park. Picture: Jake Garland

Arguably one of Cairns best young Wakeboarders will get his final opportunity to make the Worlds team as he takes on the ‘Winter Wonderland Wakeboarding Event’ this weekend.

Elijah Anderson, a 12-year-old from the Sunshine Coast, moved up to Cairns with his family where he and his older siblings found the love for wakeboarding two years ago.

Now rated one of Cairns best up and comers, has the opportunity to make the Worlds team and compete at the Worlds competition held on the Gold Coast in September.

“My dream is to go to Worlds and make the team, hopefully I can do that,” Anderson said.

“My brothers do, older and younger and we just have fun while doing it.

One of Cairns best young WakeBoarders, Elijah Anderson (12), will compete at the National Wakeboarding competition at Cairns Wake Park. Picture: Jake Garland

“We have a little bit of rivalry when we do it but I would say that is more just family stuff.

“I wouldn’t say I am the best, I think my brother is better than me.”

Elijah is one of eight siblings, with five of them making Wakeboarding their number one sport.

Amy Anderson, Elijah’s mum said it was something they just kind of fell into doing.

“We are a large family, my eldest son he is the operator down here (Wake Park) this morning and my 16-year-old daughter at the front desk she is in to it as well,” Amy said.

“You have got Toby (18), Hannah (16), Lucy (13), Elijah (12) and Charlie (11).

“Hannah isn’t competing this weekend because she tore a ligament but also Lucy rides but doesn’t compete like the others.

“We rented a house about two streets back from the wake park and we came down and Toby and Hannah actually said they keen to do it.

“So they had a couple of goes, so we bought them a set up and got them memberships and then about a month later Elijah really wanted to do it.

“So we went down to kids club and he just took to it straight away, he loved it, had a ball and within a month he was on the full cable.”

It is the fourth year for the Winter Wonderland Wakeboarding event held this Saturday and Sunday at Cairns Wake Park with athletes coming from all over Australia, New Zealand and Europe.

It is arguably the biggest Winter event in Australia with athletes from all ages coming to see what the beautiful Far North Tropics have to offer.

Age groups range from 6-years-old up to professional level male and female riders with amateurs and teens in between.

“I like doing all the tricks and competing against different people and meeting new people in these competitions,” Elijah said.

“My favourite is definitely the kick tricks, I am pretty good at those.”

It isn’t a scary thought, being a mother to extreme sport athletes according to Amy.

Instead, she finds it one of the most rewarding things she can do as a parent.

“I have home schooled my kids from a young age and we get the stuff done and then they come out here and challenge themselves,” Amy said.

“The park doesn’t usually open until 10am, so they do their school work in the morning then spend the rest of the day here.

“They love it, I love it because I can teach them the way I know how they learn.

“It is worked through the Queensland Education Department but I write all their curiculum and it gets ticked off and approved by them.

“It has done wonders for my kids who have focused on what they want to do and know how they can get there.

“And I help them in that way by focusing on how we can get them there.”

You can catch all the action this weekend on both Saturday and Sunday from 10am to 5pm.

Originally published as A junior Cairns extreme sports wakeboarder is on the cusp of making his dream come true