“It's all about style!” - and that phrase is heard all over and in more than a few languages. You can be good, and you can be equal to others that are good...but style, now that's what makes our jaws drop and keeps our eyes glued. Sometimes style is determined by the aggressive level shown, sometimes it is more about how smooth and focused movements are made from one to another, and when we get lucky is when you see the combination of focused smooth aggression. Usually “sick” is the term that has replaced “wow” - but no matter what the word used, we are all usually fully impressed. Recently, we made a visit to one of our favorite places, Austin, Texas, to visit some of our favorite people, and the extremely talented Raleigh Hager. She showed us what having style was all about! At the promising age of 14, with many 1st place titles, including 2 World Championships, seeing so much style with so much career left truly had us saying “sick” - Raleigh Hager is steezing up the arena!

Her father, JB Hager, attributes her incredible style and growth to time on the board. He himself has a schedule that supports her training. As a well known radio personality, he is able to go get his work accomplished before Raleigh gets out of class. Her school is conducive to the process of evolution as well; purposefully allotting time each afternoon for career/sports. She literally practices everyday, and it shows. She has been surfing since 5 years old and has as many titles as years under her belt/leash/whatever. The fact that she can practice so much in Austin has got many stepping up their game. She is now a Tige Team rider, and her board designer has now gone independent as BluSurf. She's been mentioned as the “One to Watch” - and I can't stop watching all that style.

KIRKLAND, WA – February 26, 2016 – Wake Surf Board industry veteran Jonathan Matthews has started a new custom performance wake surf board company: Blusurf based in Kirkland, Washington. Blusurf was founded with the mission to build the finest handcrafted sustainable wake surf boards.

"I've been fortunate to shape boards for champion riders like two-time World Champion Raleigh Hager, World Champion Jake Breedlove and National Champion Parker Payne and I am passionate about building amazing custom boards for those who appreciate performance and craftsmanship. It's not enough to build amazing boards, it's important to me to address my passion's impact on the environment through making sustainable conscious decisions" said Jonathan Matthews, Blusurf Founder & Shaper.

Blusurf stands apart by ensuring athletes and enthusiasts experience a high level of touch from initiation throughout the build process. When you own a custom Blusurf board, you're ensuring your time on the water will be spent on a board built with no compromises and with world-class craftsmanship.

“I’m excited about debuting Blusurf and look forward to the opportunity of building your next board. I’m confident that with Blusurf you will feel the difference!”

When Raleigh Hager competed as a 10-year-old against seasoned professionals in the Women’s Pro Wakesurf circuit in 2012, she garnered a lot of dubious attention. “I definitely remember getting some weird looks,” Hager says. “A few people asked if I was looking for the amateurs.” Three years later, the two-time wakesurfing world champion and Westlake seventh grader is surprisingly humble in spite of her head-turning ascent and seems reluctant to list her accomplishments. She’d rather let her surfing do the talking. She’s known for her fluid, natural style and “big air” aerial jumps, propelling herself above the wake amid reverse 360s and 720s at heights comparable to top male pros. (Her signature board, designed by sponsor Day 1 Wake, is called “The Phenom.”) When she’s not competing, 13-year-old Hager loves to hang out with friends on Lake Austin, just minutes from her family’s home, whether they’re surfing to her favorite music or paddleboarding to Mozart’s. She also has multiple pets at home, including a pig named Fergus and 10 Firebelly toads that she keeps in her room. Right now, Hager is working on switch tricks in preparation for the upcoming surf season. But beyond her competitive aspirations, she is particularly excited about something else—learning how to drive a boat, her very own MasterCraft X23, which she received from her sponsors in February. This will be her fourth season competing as a pro, but Hager says it’s far from old hat. “I still get butterflies every time I zip up my wetsuit,” she says.

Covert Ford of Austin Tx is proud to announce their sponsorship of two-time Women's World Champion, 12-Year old wakesurfer, Raleigh Hager.

“It has been amazing and a thrill to watch Raleigh’s progression and the attention she has brought to wakesurfing in Austin”, said Kenny Covert. “My family grew up boating on Texas lakes, having the right tow vehicle can make all the difference. It will be no time at all before Raleigh is behind the wheel. We’re happy to give our support to Raleigh and wakesurfing.”

Raleigh has been on the rise in the fast growing sport of wakesurfing over the last few years with podium appearances nationwide, in Europe and Mexico. Raleigh won her first world championship at age 10, her second at 11. Having just turned 12 last November, Raleigh adds Covert Ford to an impressive group of sponsors along with Centurion, Day1 Wake, Nixon, Stickybumps, Boat Beautiful and Spacecraft.

DAY1 Wake is very pleased to announce the addition of reigning 2-time Women’s World Champion Raleigh Hager to their 2014 Wakesurf Team. In the last few years Raleigh has captured the minds and hearts of wakesurfing fans and competitors alike. Working with Raleigh during the off-season, DAY1 Wake was able to dial in a winning board design while familiarizing the Hager family with their brand and philosophy that motivates people to improve on a daily basis. DAY Wake is honored to contribute to Raleigh’s future success as an accomplished athlete, on and off the water.

“Over the last year we have focused on growing the awareness of the sport, advancing our board designs, and solidifying our team. The addition of Raleigh is really a capstone to this effort that allows the company, team, and the larger community of riders to continue moving in a very positive direction – pushing our potential on a daily basis,” says Bryce McDonald, co-founder of DAY1 Wake.

“I tried out several boards before making my decision, and I chose Day 1 because their board allowed me to ride my best. It’s fast, loose and allows me to get big airs. Bryce and Jonathan are really nice too.” said Raleigh Hager.

It's a perfect Austin afternoon; we walk the dock between Hula Hut and Abel's on the Lake just a hop, skiff, and a puddle jump from Tom Miller Dam. Leigh Fulkerson gently pulls up in her Super Air Nautique G23, a boat the sales brochures say was "created from the wake up." The boat is all-sinew, built for speed, power, and a nuanced agility to turn lake water into consistent wake surf.

Fulkerson – pals with J.B. Hager, best known as half of the Austin morning radio team J.B. & Sandy – has offered to pilot her craft so we might catch J.B.'s daughter – the women's world champion in wakesurfing – in action. Pretty soon, popular J.B. may have to adjust to being better known by his other role: as Raleigh Hager's dad.

Generally, power boats don't get names (the Minnow, the Bismarck, the African Queen ... ), but if they did, says Fulkerson, she'd name this baby B.A.B., or Big Ass Boat. She, like the younger Hager, enjoys wake sports. Once we clear the wake-free zone and get near the 360 bridge, Raleigh puts in and begins her ride. In no time, she's doing things in the air and the curls of the wake that defy logic and perhaps physics.

Raleigh Hager is 12 years old and on top of the world.

12) Pro wakesurfer Raleigh Hager's current age

11 ... or 10) Number of pets, including Fergus the pig and her horde of gerbils

9) Her age when she switched to all wakesurfing

8) Current number of first-place titles

7) Current number of professional sponsorship contracts

6) Number of states in which she has podium'd

5) Her age when she first tried surfing

4) The grade she was in when she began competing locally

3) The rank she earned at her first Austin competition in 2011: the Sail & Ski Barrel Boss, Junior Division

2) Current number of world-championship wins

1) Her current rank in women's wakesurfing – in the world

Raleigh Hager has been wakesurfing Lake Austin – or as she hashtags it, #LATX – for the past four years. A two-time women's world champion with eight other first-place titles under her belt, Hager is kind of a big deal, not only in the sport but also as an emergent, bona fide, locally sourced Austin celebrity.

Did we mention she's 12?

Hager won her first championship at the age of 10 and has been winning ever since. With as many wins as she's accomplished, the Hill Country Middle School sixth-grader has also earned a number of wakesurf sponsors, including Day1 Wake (which developed a pro-model board – the "Phenom" – in her honor) and a boat sponsorship which comes with a place on Centurion Boats' professional team. It also should be noted that almost-teenager Raleigh makes really funny, focused faces when she's deep in her zone, high atop a wake, and that she has a serious appreciation for black nail polish.

Austin Chronicle: You're originally from Austin. Do you like it?

Raleigh Hager: Yeah!

AC: What's your favorite restaurant?

RH: Wahoo's. I like their fish tacos.

AC: I saw on your Facebook page that you have a stereo/turntable. Your dad is a DJ; do you have DJ aspirations?

Merced, CA May 16th, 2014; Centurion Boats is proud to announce Raleigh Hager as the newest member of the Centurion professional wake surfing team. At just 12 years of age, Raleigh Hager is the youngest Women’s World Wake Surfing Champion who has won the feat twice now. An accomplished wake surfer from Lake Austin, Texas, she becomes Centurion’s youngest team member joining other World Champions, Bri Chmel, Drew Danielo, Adam Fields and Keenan Flegel on the Centurion World Champions Team.

Raleigh said, “The FX44 wake is very steep, long and clean which allows me to do great airs. Centurion listens to the riders, what they want and is very respectful to their team athletes. I’m very excited and honored to be a part of such a great team and boat company that is promoting the sport that I love so much.”

Raleigh’s achievements at her young age are astounding. She’s earned over $40,000 since becoming a professional competitor only two years ago at the World Wake Surfing Championship in Parker, AZ. Raleigh rides behind the 2014 CATS and RAMFILL powered FX44, Centurion’s flagship wake surfing boat that has made a huge impact on the wake surfing market. Raleigh is also sponsored by Tracker Boating Center of Austin, Texas.

Austin’s wake surfing champ

By Emily Laskowski

When Raleigh Hager was 10 years old, she won her first world championship in wake surfing, and AFM sat down for a chat with the young pro athlete (“10-year-old Rules Wake Surfing World,” December 2012). Now, Hager, 12 years old and in middle school, won her second consecutive Pro Women’s World Wake Surfing Championship in October 2013 and we’re back for another visit.

Raleigh Hager may be a phenom in wake surfing but, at home, she’s just Raleigh, a typical kid.

With the support of her parents, Erin and JB, and many pets—including a dog, pig, and new litter of baby gerbils—Hager trains three to four times a week on the water and twice a week doing strength and conditioning. While she admits that she should be practicing more often, Hager also concedes that, now, in the sixth grade, she “has a lot going on.” Like many 12-year-olds, Hager is moving at a mile a minute. She goes from brushing her hair to checking her phone to playing with the dog to jumping on the trampoline to skateboarding inside the family home in a matter of seconds.

“She is a goofy, 12-year-old kid, in all the right ways a 12-year-old should be goofy,” her mom Erin said. And this admission makes Hager’s intense focus on wake surfing all the more interesting. “When she is on her board,” Erin added, “she is a whole other person, so it’s just so awesome to see her transform and be passionate about something at such a young age.”

When 11-year-old Raleigh Hager went to the Pro Women’s World Wake Surfing Championship, there were monitors everywhere and a jumbo-tron for those watching on the shore of a private lake just outside Las Vegas. But Hager, of West Lake Hills, didn’t see any of that. It was just her, her board and a few judges in a boat creating the wake she rode. “She just goes out there and has fun,” said her dad, JB Hager. “She’s very removed from the judging while all the parents are analyzing everything.” “When I’m up (on the wave), I don’t think of anything,” the 11-year-old said. “When I fall, I think of things I’m going to do on my next run.” Hager won that competition last month, making her the wake surf champion for the second year in a row. She competed against four other women, all adults. Hager, a sixth-grade student at Hill Country Middle School, started wake surfing when she was 8. “I thought it looked really cool,” she said. The wipeouts also hurt less than those she experienced at a few surfing lessons during vacations to San Diego because the boats typically travel about 10 mph. One day while Hager was riding on Lake Austin with her family, Billy Clark of Austin Surf Company spotted her and offered to be her coach. She’s since learned new tricks every year, most of which involve jumping in the air with the board or turning up to 720 degrees. The tricks in the sport draw from surfing, but also skateboarding, said her father. Austin has been about five years ahead of most lakefront areas in the nation when it comes to the sport, but the rest of the country is beginning to catch on, JB said. “A lot of wake surfers will stop and applaud when Raleigh cruises by,” he said. “Most people are thrilled to just be able to drop the rope and ride.” Raleigh Hager said she feels like she still has a lot to learn when it comes to wake surfing tricks. “Within the sport, we get the comment a lot that she’s really humble about her talent,” said her mother, Erin Hager. “Then she goes out there, crushes it and makes people’s jaws drop,” her father said.

Can we call it a dynasty yet? Austin wake surfing phenom Raleigh Hager, the 11-year-old daughter of JB and Erin Hager (yes, JB of the JB & Sandy Show on radio station Mix 94.7), chalked up her second victory in two years at the 2013 World Wake Surfing Championship. That makes her the two-time reigning Pro-Women's World Wake Surfing Champ. And she's half as old as most of her competition. A hundred athletes from around the world competed for $100,000 in prizes at the tournament, held on a private lake near Las Vegas in late September. Riders had to earn a spot in the invitational competition by placing in the World Series of Wake Surfing in 2013. Raleigh qualified with first place wins in Mexico, Arizona, Minnesota and Georgia, and a second place finish in Switzerland. She took first place at the Las Vegas competition. Ashley Kidd of Corpus Christi took second and Stacia Bank of Minneapolis took third. Raleigh grabbed her first world title in 2012. That win earned her a pet pig from her parents, who promised her the bristly, four-legged pet named Fergus if she won. (No, they didn't exactly think she'd conquer the world at age 10. She proved them wrong.) "As her parents, we are very proud of her," Erin Hager said. "She worked so hard all year and (we) love that her hard work paid off … especially since she is so passionate about the sport." Raleigh’s idol is professional ocean surfer Kelly Slater, who won the Ocean Surfing World Championships every year for more than a decade. Raleigh wouldn't mind duplicating his accomplishments - and growing interest in her sport along the way. The training continues. Raleigh is about to head back to the gym with her trainer Ben Himes at Sharp End Athletics. Look for her on the lake this winter. She'll throw on her wetsuit and surf even when it's cold out. Raleigh says she's proud of her win and has no plans to retire anytime soon.

2012 Women’s Pro Wakesurf Champion Raleigh Hager is knocking out the competition.

By Tamsyn Stonebarger

“There’s nothing wrong with falling,” surfer Raleigh Hager says as she gets back on her hot-pink wakeboard, with Bob Marley playing on the boat. It seems like a typical thing for a world champion wakeboard surfer to say, but seeing as she’s 11 years old, it really leaves an impression. At the age of eight, when Hager was just beginning to learn how to drop the rope and ride the wake, her natural talent caught the eye of her now coach and board shaper, Billy Clark. Clark approached Hager and her family at a boat gas station asking if he could coach her, and he forecasted, “That girl is going to be the world champion someday.”

Little did he realize how soon someday would be. Clark created a custom pink board that became her trademark, and Hager rode all the way to the 2012 Women’s Pro World Championship. Clark does more than make pretty boards that win competitions though.

“Well, his wake is a lot different,” explains Hager, “more like a competition boat. And he tells me to do ridiculous tricks, and I try them with him and then come and try them on our boat.”

World champion wake surfer and West Lake Hills resident Raleigh Hager has brought home victories from Mexico, Switzerland and Arizona this May and June, and she’s not planning on slowing down.

Eleven-year-old Raleigh, who has only been competing at the pro women’s level for a year and a half, sees world domination as her goal. She plans to win the World Championships of wake surfing in Las Vegas again this year, and as many years after that as she can, she said.

“I like the feeling of landing a big trick, like a reverse 360 or something,” Raleigh said. “[I feel] happy, proud I didn’t fall.”

West Lake Hills’ resident wake surf champion has been practicing five times a week for competition season this year. This season, Raleigh has five new tricks to show the judges.

“It’s always cool to see people’s reactions once they see her surf, especially if they’ve not seen her surf before,” said Raleigh’s mother, Erin Hager. “They say ‘what? Why is she not in junior’s?’ It’s just neat to see their expressions when they see her do her stuff because they’re like, ‘oh OK, wow.’ They had no idea she’s capable of doing the things she can do.”

Her parents are fully supportive of their daughter’s ambitions, even though it means busy weekends, costly travel plans and long practices.

What separates your board from the competition?

I don’t want to give away too many secrets, but my board is very light, more like an ocean board. The fins are huge, it’s an original shape.

What is the big difference between a custom board and a manufactured board?

I have a hard time riding a manufactured board. Manufactured boards are are thinner, but heavier. They aren’t as maneuverable. With a custom you can decide the thickness, the size, really choose what it looks like. When you get it, it feels so great. They are super light and I like riding bigger fins.

Why is a custom board so important in wakesurfing competitions?

With a custom board, I’m able to control it much better. You’re the one who decided how it is. It’s more fun at a competition if people ask where you got it. If it’s manufactured you’re just like “Oh, I got it from a factory or something like that”. With a custom board, you could be like “I got it from this really cool custom guy in Jamaica or something like that (laugh). No, It’s cool that it’s hand shaped with the best materials. It’s just better for me

What can you do on a custom board as opposed to other boards?

Austin, Texas native Raleigh Hager's got it goin on - big time. At the ripe old age of only 11, she's the reigning Women's World Wakesurfing Champion and we had the pleasure of interviewing her recently about this burgeoning action sport. Besides the obvious super coolness of getting to interview the world champ, what's extra rad about this is the fact that we here at GOAB have never done anything related to wakesurfing at all! So this is a first all around!

Admittedly, we didn't know a whole heck of a lot about the sport of wakesurfing, so it was cool to hear what Raleigh had to tell us about how it's done and we're stoked to give it a go ourselves now!

GOAB: So first question is just to clear up what could be some confusion amongst our readers since most of our readers are traditional ocean surfers and/or skateboarders. What exactly is wakesurfing and how does it differ from wakeboarding? Are the 2 terms interchangeable?

RH: Wakeboarding is a hard board with boots and you ride with a long rope. It’s faster and the wake isn’t as big. You’re way back behind the board doing airs using the rope. With wakesurfing you put Fat Sacs more on one side of the boat to get it to tilt and make a giant wake on either the regular or goofy side, usually between 10-11 mph. It simulates an ocean wave. Then you get a shorter board, since you don’t need the length to paddle in. You don’t use boots. I ride wax like normal surfers and a kickpad. You can ride traction up front, but I ride wax. You start with a rope then you throw the rope in the boat once the wake forms and you surf the wave behind the boat. You can get airs, 360’s, 180’s, big carve, etc. FYI - Fat Sacs

Austin Fit Magazine. December 2012

When she sits down for her interview, Raleigh Hager doesn't respond to most of the questions directly. Rather, she turns back to her mom first, as if she's looking for some sort of approval for what she's about to say. Or, as likely, she's double checking what she's actually supposed to be doing here. Because she's only ten it's hard to fault her for not fully embracing the situation. Since when are pint-sized fifth graders, fresh off the playground, ever expected to fully ponder the depth of their actions and consider the extent of their potential anyway? Mom, a little help please?

Only, Hager's talent isn't just potential anymore. At the ripe old age of ten, Hager has landed herself at the top of a very distinct and emerging sport without really aiming for it. With roughly only two years of practice and seven competitions under her belt, Raleigh Hager ended up the 2012 Women's World Pro Wake Surfing Champion. When women and men alike, twice her age, are aiming for this distinction there's some explaining to do.

Representing Austin, Texas; Raleigh Hager absolutely blew the crowd away with her aerials with an extremely high degree of air and amplitude. Determined to take home her share of $40,000 in the Women’s Pro Surf she decorated her finals pass with a backside suface rotation, a variety of grabs and closed her run with a series of air 180′s to take home her first World Wake Surfing Championship. At only 10 years of age, Raleigh earned $6,000 becoming the World Champion against competitors that were more than double her age!

Local pro, 10, will compete with the big girls this weekend By Pam LeBlanc

Turns out you don't need an ocean full of waves spit out by Mother Nature to hang 10 when you've got a lake and a boat.

Surfing in Central Texas even boasts some advantages over more traditional meccas: No sticky salt water, skin-shredding coral reefs or men in gray suits, otherwise known as sharks. Factor in plenty of easy lake access and warm weather, and voila — Austin's becoming a Hill Country Honolulu.

"Our scene crushes everybody else," says Billy Clark, who teaches lessons through his business, Austin Surf Company, and manufactures lightweight wake surf boards.

Wake surfing isn't entirely new. Water skiing came first. But as far back as the 1950s, land-locked surf bums hit the lake, dragging their unwieldy long boards behind boats. In the 1990s, shorter, fatter wakeboards took over, and a whole culture of high-flying tricks evolved.

In Austin, wake surfing debuted in the early 1990s. In 2005, it heated up. Today, wake surfers around the world know Austin as a place where surfers shred and music blares. Along with Switzerland, Spain and France, it's become an epicenter of the sport.

In the Westlake Picayune. Written by Esther Robards-Forbes.

On Wake9.com by ragboy.

"She is tiny, cute, and that board is small, but she rocks it," he says.

Photo album from the Open Women Pro Surf Final's division in Sacramento, CA, where Raleigh won 3rd place.

Raleigh won third in the junior division at the 2011 Barrel Boss Contest in Austin.

From Slayshtank.com after one of Raleigh's first competitions.

Interview with Raleigh, posted February 2012 on Slayshtank.com.

Posted May 2012 on Slayshtank.com after Raleigh won third in Women's Pro Surf in Sacramento, CA.