At this point in the game, Brian Grubb requires little introduction. Alliance’s inaugural Alliance Rider of the Year (ROTY), our first cover (on a wakeskate) and currently Red Bull’s most viewed athlete of all-time, Grubb has transcended our sport globally while bringing his adventurous towed creativity to eyeballs well outside our sport’s viewership.

Grubb set his experience stage early in his career by standing out and dedicating himself 100% to wakeskating and has regularly evolved his riding and the sport throughout the years. Wakeskating, wakesurfing, and foiling to name a short few, Grubb brings decades of board riding to the table in addition to his other lifestyle accolades. If Grubb sinks his hooks into something, he’s going all-in.

With Party Wave having officially launched, Alliance and our 4 teams are stoked to have Alliance’s first ROTY a part of the judging panel.

Reed Hansen was well known globally as a Professional Wakeskater (the hardest watersport ever) but to his close friends and family he was known as the best wakeboarder who rarely rode a wakeboard.

Reed more or less has done it all behind a boat. He even built a step down/up pool on his property naming it “Battle Falls.” Battle Falls quickly became one of the premiere wakeskate events and shooting locations on the planet. Rumors say it still exists but you have to move the pet alligators out if you want to ride.

So suffice it to say that Reed Hansen was doing lip shuvs and body varial moves on a wakeskate long before those moves were done on a wakesurfer.

Drew Danielo is considered to be one of the early adopters of wakesurfing as a full-time focus. That dedication to the sport helped Drew polish his craft earning a total of 7 World Wakesurf Championships. And while in the context of wakesurfing those accolades are legendary, the foundation of that talent was Drew’s time as a wakeskater.

Drew’s time as a wakeskater is what originally put him on the Alliance radar. He was one of the few athletes pushing the technical wake-to-wake game during that time and very few could consistently deliver at the lever Drew was riding.

With his wakeskate origins, multiple wakesurfing titles and one of the most successful pro model wakesurf board lines, Drew brings a character to the judging panel we feel is a perfect fit for this year’s Party Wave kickoff.