What's with the hair?  

Coach Kent's athlete asked him to grow his hair long, and dye it red, white & blue for the '99 World Championships.  What a Coach!

Our Navy son, Jobe, was deploying November 2001 to join the sea search for Osama bin Laden).  Jobe asked Dad to let him shave his head to match Jobe and his shipmates.  What a Dad!

Business Kent. He did not like the shaved head....said it was WAY too cold:)  Frankly he did like his hair long (he's a product of the 60's but never grew his hair long until his athlete asked him to) it just doesn't work for a businessperson in a small town.  What a business man!

Biography

Kent “T” Sandhagen                               Los Banos, CA

Age 55                                                                 Realtor/Sales Manger Capets Plus/WaterSki coach

Born in Waterloo, Iowa                                         Coaching  for 14 years

CAREER HIGHLIGHTS 

• Coached Mark “ANIMAL” Turner to 2 World Championships, 2 World Records and 2 National Championships
• Paid his own way to ’01 World DisAbledWaterSki Championships in Australia to support his athlete, reigning World Champion Mark “ANIMAL” Turner
• Volunteered all day, every day, of the ’01 Worlds and Training Camp assisting US athletes, building a starting dock to accommodate wheelchair users, moving ski equipment, etc
• Paid his own way to ’00 DisAbledWaterSki Nationals in Alabama to support two DisAbledathletes he coaches, Mark “ANIMAL” Turner and Tammy Allard
• Volunteered all day, every day, of the ’00 Nationals assisting athletes and officials
• Coached Tammy Allard to a National Championship in her first year of competition
• Paid his own way to ’99 World DisAbledWaterSki Championships in England and US TEAM training camp in Ireland to support his athlete, Mark “ANIMAL” Turner
• Dyed his hair red, white and blue to match his athlete Mark “ANIMAL” Turner (as requested by Mark) for the ’99 Worlds in England
• Gave up his personal goal of skiing in the US Nationals (able bodied) in 1999 because his tournament schedule conflicted with the training schedule of Mark “ANIMAL” Turner
• USA WaterSki Certified Level 3 Coach in Jump, Level 2 in Slalom and Trick
• Volunteer at learn to ski clinics for the disabled
• Promotes the sport of waterSkiing and skiers with a disability to the general public
• Donates web space to waterSkier with disabilities, providing a web presence that wouldn't otherwise exist
• Became involved with skiers with disabilities in 1993
• Developer of a private waterSki site in Los Banos, CA
• Coached KeNyA to Claim on World Record as Youngest Skier at 4 months & 29 days
• Active member of USA WaterSki since 1987

He's not the radical he appears to be in the above photo.  He grew his hair long and dyed it red, white and blue to support his athlete, Mark "ANIMAL" Turner at the 1999 World DisAbled WaterSki Championships.  Mark's done the crazy hair dye thing for years, he asked his Coach to show his "ANIMAL" pride. Kent not only dyed his hair, receiving LOTS of flak from family and friends for this out of character hairstyle, but he also paid his own way to England and Ireland for the training camp and World Competition believing his young athlete would have a better chance of performing to his capability if his Coach were with.  Mark won a Gold Medal in Slalom. Evidently Kent was right:)

His commitment to his athletes is astounding. At the '99 Worlds ANIMAL skied the preliminary round of competition; they announced ANIMAL was in first place as he skied back to the dock.  Kent was so excited he jumped into those chilly British waters as Mark approached the dock, hugging, wrestling and hiding his tears of joy.  It's easy to see how an athlete could earn a Gold Medal with that kind of support:)

As you can see in the photo to the left, Kent skis on a sit ski to perfect his coaching sit skiers.  Ole Tamwella told him if he was a really great coach he'd use her arm sling and ski the slalom course single handed.  He did.  Of course he didn't ski 34 mph, but he ran the course.  That's commitment folks.

Kent's a USA WaterSki Certified Coach (Level 3 in Jump, Level 2 in Slalom and Trick) and a respectable skier himself . . . skiing into 38 off (34mph).  In 1999 Kent set aside his personal dream of skiing the able bodied waterSki Nationals because it would conflict with Mark's Worlds training.

Upon his return from England he phoned Tammy Allard of Los Banos telling her the US DisAbled Ski TEAM needed her.  Within one year Kent coached Ole Tamwella (Tammy Allard) to a National Championship! He paid his own way to Alabama to be with Tammy and Mark at the Nationals. The first time Tammy made all 6 buoys and gates (on slalom course) Kent stopped the boat and jumped in the water to celebrate with her.

Kent and his family accompanied Mark "ANIMAL" Turner to the 2001 World Championships in Australia, again at personal expense.  The US TEAM took home a Silver, Mark won the Gold Overall in tough conditions, both mental and physical.  The site conditions were rough, jump finals were cancelled due to safety.  Minutes before the Slalom finals were to start the skiers were advised they'd be Trick skiing (final round) instead due to unsafe conditions.  Most of the skiers were a bit unnerved; all morning they'd been mentally preparing to Slalom, now they'd be Tricking instead.  Trick skiing is completely different from Slalom skiing mentally, those are totally different grooves, and this was no Tuesday afternoon at the Pond, we're talking the WORLD Championships, the whole enchilada here.  Some athletes made the mental switch better than others.  Lucky Mark "ANIMAL" Turner had his Coach right there beside him, giving some sage advice about Mark's ability to handle the switch.  It worked:), Mark earned a Bronze in Tricks and a Silver in slalom (just missing first by 1/2 buoy).   Kent said the pictured moment was worth the 16,000 mile journey to be with his skier when he most needed him.

When Kent's at Regional, National and World Championships he doesn't just spend time with his athletes.  He works all day long, helping whenever and wherever he can.  He built a ski dock in Australia, carried equipment up and down the hill for all US skiers and encouraged every athlete he met.  Skiers, officials and families love and respect him for his love of the sport, his love of life and his family.  Sandy Schraft (Sherm's wife - Sherm's an official that was recently inducted into the WaterSki Hall of Fame) sent Kent this photo after the '01 Worlds, saying she was sending it "To the ultimate cheerleader/worker/coach/friend".  Kent's with US TEAM members Matt Oberholtz on our left (current World Record Holder in Tricks) and Steve Hornsey on our right (current World Champion in Jump) in this shot by Sandy.

Kent's goal is to become the official coach for the US DisAbled Ski TEAM.  

You may not be interested in World competition; that just doesn't matter to Kent.  He loves waterSkiing, at any level.  It brings back some of the fondest memories of his youth growing up with the Cedar River (Waterloo, Iowa) in his backyard.  He remembers wearing his swimsuit under his clothes to Church on Sunday and beginning to strip on the church steps as soon as services ended.  Sitting out in the sun listening to crickets, frogs, birds and children play is as refreshing as a cool glass of water on a hot summer day.

Those were simple, family days, the kind we try to create at KeNevA's.  

You may email Kent by clicking on the icon 

Last Updated 03/08/06