Cibdol Athlete Kick de Heer Wins Eat Play Love

Cibdol's very own sponsored athlete, Kick de Heer, takes home first place at the Eat Play Love competition. To find out what went through the wakeboarder's mind on the day, and what winning the first major championship of the season means to him, keep reading.

What is Eat Play Love?

Eat Play Love is a global initiative that brings people together for a weekend of culinary delights, live music, and exciting events. The most recent festival, hosted in Cologne, Germany, had the pleasure of adding not one, but two incredible wakeboarding events to its lineup. With the wakeboarding season on standby thanks to Covid, it was finally time for the competitions to start.

Of course, Cibdol-sponsored wakeboarder Kick de Heer couldn't wait to get back on the water after a long hiatus. And what better way to kick off the season than to take home the highest scoring run of the entire event. We'll get into everything Kick went through on the day shortly, but first, let's look at why the Eat Play Love festival means so much to the wakeboarding community.

Combining the German championship with the European open

So far, 2021 has been without any wakeboarding championships, the result of global COVID-19 restrictions. However, with life slowly getting back to normal, the decision was made to host not one, but two wakeboarding championships, side by side.

Eat Play Love would play host to both the national and European championships, with contenders looking to take home first place in their age class. Alone, these competitions would have been a feat, but with the first event of the season featuring the very best in Germany and Europe—the pressure was on.

Championship winner, Kick de Heer

Kick de Heer is no stranger to the pressure of competing, but even he admits he felt a weight on his shoulders going into the event. We caught up with the wakeboarding champion to find out what was going through his mind, and what it meant to take home the first trophy of the season.

Even during training, "I was nervous", Kick explains. "It was the first competition of the season, and everybody was looking for a show". Fortunately, that's exactly what they got, and after a successful training session, Kick felt ready for the championship.

Arriving on the day of the competition, Kick felt tense but confident. Since he was the first run of the day, he used CBD gummies to help settle his mind and body. With the stage set, it was time for his qualification run.

Overcoming mistakes

His qualification run was almost flawless until one mistake resulted in a minor crash. However, his run was more than enough to secure a place in the finals, even with the error.

"After the mistake during qualification, I wanted to improve my run even more", Kick says. "And, luckily, I had a few hours between qualifying and the finals to get my focus back". Those hours certainly weren't wasted either. Fully prepared, Kick felt confident, ready to impress the audience and the judges.

"Looking back, it couldn't have gone any better", Kick says confidently. Based on the execution, intensity, and composition of his run, Kick was awarded the highest scoring run of the competition, and with it, the season's very first trophy!

"I am very happy and proud to win this trophy. It has been a tough season for me since there were no championships I could attend. This made winning at Eat Play Love all the more important".

Cibdol is incredibly proud to sponsor and support such a talented individual during his journey to becoming a full-time professional wakeboard athlete. If his performance at Eat Play Love is anything to go by, there is no doubt Kick has a bright and successful future ahead!