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WATCH THE 2023 KPL TEAM BATTLE VIDEOS!

Updated: Sep 17, 2023

Well, that’s all she wrote. The 2023 Team Battle presented by Knot Future is a wrap, and we could not be happier with the end result. Although the event itself went off without a hitch, we would like to extend our sincerest apology for the lack of updates during the latter portion of the event. Unfortunately, one of our staff members fell ill, which resulted in an unforeseen disruption in our meticulously choreographed media presentation. However, the staff is back to full strength, just in time to deliver the final videos and celebrate the grandeur that is Team Battle.

In a brief event recap, the Team Battle contestants were graced with wind for nearly the entire event, allowing for riding and filming to materialize for six days out of the week-long event. Although the riding was theoretically feasible, it was anything but quintessential. When a sport is made possible by weather, there is always an inherent element of surprise and factor that simply cannot be controlled. Despite aiming to limit disorder and maintain composure of the many factors that allow park riding to transpire, weather will forever pose as an uncontrolled variable. For a large portion of the event, the wind was in a wild disarray, with recorded gusts over 40 knots. From the perspective of the videos, it is nearly impossible to recognize this reality, as all teams did an incredible job managing these overwhelming conditions. In an ideal scenario, the wind would have been slightly less volatile, allowing the riders more of an opportunity to explore new tricks and highlight the potential of riding for a video, as opposed to riding during a heat. More often than not, the level of riding while filming for a video is higher than the level displayed during a contest due to the simple reality that the technique, style, approach, and difficulty of a trick can be relentlessly attempted and diligently refined while filming. Even though conditions were not optimal, the level of riding and videos themselves truly highlight the effort that each team instilled throughout the week.

When the clock struck noon on Saturday, the second of September, 168 hours had officially passed, and the commotion, momentum, hustle, and team exertion came to a grinding halt. At 12:00 Pacific Standard Time, Team GOLD, Team SCARLET, Team NAVY, Team GREEN, and Team ICE officially submitted their finalized videos. Later that afternoon, at the awards party, each video came to life on the projector and echoed proudly through the speakers, and for the first time all week, the teams watched the result of their endeavors unfold in front of their own eyes.

Keeping with Team Battle tradition and the event’s fundamental principles, after each team’s video had played through twice, the voting ensued. Each and every rider cast a ballot for the team they believe deserved to have earned the best overall video, along with a plethora of subsequent accolades. There is nothing more impartial or sincere than the rider’s evaluating each other and recognizing one another for their efforts. After the votes were tallied, the winners were announced, and the 2023 Team Battle presented by Knot Future came to a climactic and awe-inspiring conclusion.

At the risk of sounding overtly arrogant, we (the Kite Park League) are the most legitimate, inclusive, and authentic curators of any contemporary kiteboarding contest or event, period. The Kite Park League prides itself in its effort to deliver riders the opportunity to grow, learn, and progress in an environment that can support their ambitions and the future of kiteboarding as a whole. The Team Battle is the pinnacle of the Kite Park League’s aspirations, and for the second year in a row, we can’t help but smile and rejoice in the success of this special event.

Event results and team videos can be found below and on our website. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your continued support and your interest in our vision. This is just the beginning…

Over and out from the Kite Park League.