By Philip Haldiman
Mail | X: @PhilipHaldiman

Bentlee Shafer has always loved the water.

She was crawling onto waterboards and enjoying water sports by the time she was 4 years old. She learned to wake surf before reaching 10 years old.
Wakesurfing stems from water skiing — think snowboarding on water. Shafer might argue it’s a cooler version of water skiing.

Around the time she took up the sport, Shafer was taking a surf lesson at Lake Pleasant and her coach suggested she try competing in an upcoming competition.

“I did it and immediately I was hooked. I’ve been competing ever since,” she said. “I love everything about being on the water, whether it’s surfing in the ocean or behind a boat at Lake Pleasant."

Now the Mountain Ridge High School freshman will take part in the biggest competition of her life, and it is right in her backyard.

The Competitive Wake Surf Association World Championships will roll into Peoria at Lake Pleasant’s Scorpion Bay this week, Oct. 6-10.

The event brings together about 100 athletes from around the world, including China, Japan, Canada and Russia.

It will be the city’s first time hosting the event. Last year it was in Switzerland.
Shafer, 14, will compete in the Amateur Female Division, ages14-35, for Team USA.

Out of more than 75 surfers internationally, she is ranked 10th.

“We live just 10 minutes from Lake Pleasant so I feel really blessed to have home-field advantage, so to speak, for the world championships right here in Peoria,” she said.

Shafer is sponsored by Vibes Wakesurfing, based out of Scorpion Bay at Lake Pleasant.

Co-owner Angie Viland, a former professional wakesurfer who has taught lessons for 13 years, said Shafer started taking lessons from her earlier this year and discovered she had real talent.

It is an honor and privilege to be ranked and to be invited to the Competitive Wake Surf Association World Championships, Viland said.

“I try to instill in my students that it is most important to have fun. At the end of the day, it’s not really about who won or lost anyway. People remember you for how you made them feel. If you are having good time you are probably going to perform well,” she said. “Bentlee always has such a good attitude and smile on her face.”

Senior News Editor Philip Haldiman can be reached at phaldiman@iniusa.org, or on X @philiphaldiman. Please submit comments at yourvalley.net/letters or email them to AzOpinions@iniusa.org. We are committed to publishing a wide variety of reader opinions, as long as they meet our Civility Guidelines.

Philip Haldiman
Senior News Editor | Peoria

phaldiman@iniusa.org

Meet Philip
Haldiman is an award-winning journalist who most recently took first place for investigative reporting in 2023 from Arizona Newspapers Association. He joined Independent Newsmedia, Inc., USA, in 2015, covering Sun City West his first year. Since 2016, he has covered the city of Peoria. Prior to coming to INI, he was a reporter with The Arizona Republic for seven years, covering numerous cities throughout the Valley. Before that, he was a freelance writer.

Community: Haldiman spearheads the Peoria Independent Hometown Heroes Awards program, honoring local individuals and businesses that give back to the community. He has hosted local candidate forums over the years and is a member of the Society of Professional Journalists. Haldiman also served as a member of the Journalism Program Community Advisory Board at Glendale Community College. Outside journalism, Haldiman served as a member of the city of Peoria Complete Count Committee for the Census, 2019-2020. Lastly, he has served as a member of his HOA governing board since 2021.

Education: Arizona State University with a BA in Journalism and Mass Communications and a BA in Theater. 

Random Fact: Haldiman is a fourth-generation Arizonan as well as wrote and produced an autobiographical comic book about his time spent in Hollywood and his life as a cult film star.

Hobbies: He enjoys hiking Arizona’s mountainous landscapes and is currently working on a play for the stage.