Let's learn about the intersection of wakeboarding and volleyball, and the broken bones therein

Hey did you know that FGCU's setter, Gigi Meyer, is a national championship collegiate wakeboarder? Did you know that the Collegiate Wakeboard National Championships even existed? Well she is and they do. Let's learn more!

Apparently at last year's Collegiate Wakeboard National Championships (See, told you they were a thing), Gigi wiped out and landed on her head. But she got back up and won the top women's amateur title.

Hooray!

"It wasn't until a week or so later that Meyer learned she'd fractured a vertebra in her back."

Oh. I suppose vertebrae are important, aren't they.

"Being the national champion is probably one of the coolest things I've done in my life. Maybe No. 1," Meyer said.

Well, what about fracturing a vertebra and still being able to wakeboard. That's pretty cool, too.

"She's been that way since she was a freshman," said FGCU coach Dave Nichols.

Oh man. So Coach Nichols has had three years of broken bones outside of season to deal with? Not to mention that Meyer is FGCU's only setter. What happened when she told him?

"I called her and said, 'Gigi, don't worry about [it]. It's part of what you love.'"

Wow. Really? Dave Nichols might be the most understanding coach on the planet.

"I was a surfer my whole life when I played," Nichols said. "I would have been bitterly angry if my coach took surfing away from me."

Surfers: so empathetic. But it also turns out that Gigi agreed not to wakeboard during the season. How do her parents feel about all this?

"My mom is very worried...My dad loves it."

And Gigi's parents are...?

"Meyer, the middle of Urban and Shelley Meyer's three children..."

Wait. URBAN Urban Meyer?

"(Gigi) thrives off wakeboarding's mix of adrenaline and--"

Yeah yeah yeah, we get it, it's a rush. URBAN Meyer?

"He's terrified of heights."

Big Ten football, I give you the key to defeating the Ohio State Buckeyes: get Urban Meyer up high somewhere.