Nicholas Ruchti 
The Nickster
from St. Cloud, MN 
has been voted by barefooters all over the world to be the

2007 BFC Footer of the Year!

I would like to nominate my 10 year old son Nicholas Ruchti (The Nickster) for November's Barefooter of the month. Nick started footing about the middle of last summer 2006 and within a years time has mastered deep-water starts, step-offs and flyers, can cross back and forth over the wake and is now doing one foots and tumble turns!!!  He tried back footing-but I think he will have to wait until next year for that!  This year he even entered his first figure eight competition-FacePlant Fest 2007 in Long Lake Minnesota. He placed 5th out of 10 in the Juniors Division!  Not bad for being the youngest competitor in his first competition.  He works hard, practices hard and is very determined.  He is out footing almost every day regardless of the weather, sometimes at 6:00am before school!  He is still footing now in November...without a drysuit...they don't make them small enough for him!  He is pretty bummed that the boat will have to come out of the water any day now...unfortunately it is soon to be ice!  He wants to keep practicing as he is planning on entering three competitions next year!!  He is very passionate about this sport and fun to watch in action...and if I may say so..he is amazing...and I am very proud to be his Mom!

P.S. His birthday is November 27th...being awarded November's Barefooter of the month would be an awesome birthday present!

Thank You!

Lisa Ruchti
St. Cloud, Minnesota

Congratulations Nickster!!

You are the youngest footer to ever win the Footer of the Year honor.  Great Job!  Keep up the good work and we'll all be watching for you at Footstock this year.  Be sure to bring a Sharpee, and start practicing signing autographs.

Chuck Gleason
BarefootCentral.com

Click Here to see a video of Nicholas

2007 Footer of the Year Candidates   All FOY candidates must have been a 2006 Footer of the Month			Official  Vote Count as of 08:00 am 01/21/2008
November	Nicholas Ruchti		1412
August	Payton Blouw		1151
September	Kyle Larsen		906
July	Rich LaFave		891
April	Shianne Addinall		862
March	Dick Mochak		805
February	Tony Dickers		788
December	Kevin Towers & Bill Brzoza		616
May	Micah Wegner		495
October	Kristin Kelleher Mochak		410
		Total Votes	8336

VOTING RULES AND TABULATION
One vote only per email address.  We maintain a database of over 3,500 known footers, as well as a list of over 300 footers that are members of Team Barefoot Central.  Votes from unknown, or non-footers will count for 1 point, votes coming from known footers count for 2 points, and votes coming from Team Barefoot Central members count for 3 points.  We figure that members spend most of the time on the site and have demonstrated a dedication to supporting programs such as this one, so they should carry more weight.   

The Winner of the Footer of the Year will receive the following from BarefootCentral.com:

Barefoot International Trick Handle $90 value	One Year Membership to Team BFC $50 value + 15% savings on all purchases for 1 year
Barefoot Central Need for Speed Puff Logo Hat $25 value		BarefootCentral.com Neoprene Hooded Jacket $125 value
Custom Eagle Barefoot Suit with Footer of the Year & Your name on the back $350 value

• A bio page on Barefoot Central for all of 2007.

• The respect and admiration of their fellow footers, family & friends. ($Priceless$)

HISTORY of the BFC FOOTER OF THE YEAR

The BFC Footer of the Year started in 1999.  You can check out the history of all the FOM nominees and FOY winners by
Clicking Here