NT_041218

18 | April 12, 2018 | The Northbrook tower news
northbrooktower.com
GBN grad making waves in water sports world
Martin Carlino, Editor
Even though Danny
Amir grew up more than
1,000 miles away from the
state of Florida, he always
knew he would one day
end up in Orlando.
Amir, a graduate of
Glenbrook North in 2000,
spent his teenage years
on the chase. But Amir’s
chase was never one for
money or affection, rather
one for unfrozen water —
a needed means for pursuing
his near-lifelong love
of water sports. And Orlando,
often deemed the
mecca of water sports, was
always his end goal.
“In my mind, I kind of
always wanted to get down
to Florida so that I could be
on the water all the time,”
Amir said. “When I was
a teenager, all I wanted to
do was be on the water all
day.”
While living in Northbrook,
Amir spent his
summers traveling to Twin
Lakes, Wis., where he
learned to water ski and
developed a love for the
sport through the Aquanuts
water ski club.
Following his time at
GBN, Amir got a job at
Munson Ski and Marine,
where he worked with
some of the best water-skiing
equipment available.
In his early 20s, after
two years at Munson,
Amir saved enough money
and followed his best
friend Erik Ruck south to
Florida.
Once there, Amir knew
a professional career as a
water skier may be nothing
more than idealistic,
but his passion for water
sports never faded and his
goal remained simple.
“I always kind of knew
that I wasn’t going to be
a pro, but my goal was to
always gain exposure for
water sports,” Amir said.
“I wanted to get photos
and just show people that
you don’t necessarily have
to be a champion in the
sport ... you can still be
doing something for the
sport. It was always about
getting water sports seen.”
Amir continued to travel
between the Midwest and
Florida for the next several
years, with his water skiing
as a Aquanut remaining
constant.
In 2005, while skiing
with the club in Wisconsin,
organizers of the Wakeboard
National Championships
asked Amir if he had
any interest in announcing
one of the sports biggest
events, which was slated to
be held in Kenosha, Wis.
Amir turned down the
initial opportunity, but just
one year later the same opportunity
presented itself,
this time with an added
incentive, a chance to announce
the entire Wakeboard
World Series — and
Amir couldn’t refuse.
The Northbrook native
has since gone on to build
the reputation as one of the
most respected and recognized
voices in the water
sports community. And
earlier this year, Amir received
the Water Sports Industry
Association’s 2018
Larry Meddock award, one
of the highest honors in the
water sports industry.
The award recognizes a
person or group who has
gone above and beyond
to promote or grow the
water sports community
by volunteering, helping
underprivileged groups,
or starting an organization
that grows or promotes the
sport.
WSIA’s Executive Director
Kevin Michael explained
why Amir was
a strong choice for the
award.
Glenbrook North graduate Danny Amir smiles after receiving the 2018 Larry Meddock award, one of the highest
honors in the water sports industry. Photos Submitted
“[He] is not in this for
the money, and there’s no
financial reward that he
would do this for – he goes
out of his way to promote
the sport because he loves
it,” Michael said.
Now in his 14th year of
announcing water sports,
Amir, a self-described
introvert, can’t believe
where his life has taken
him.
“Announcing was never
really something that was
on my radar when I was in
school,” Amir said. “I’m
very proud of my accomplishments.
... I’ve been
able to travel around the
world multiple times. ...
Some of my earliest memories
are being out on the
boat. My dad taught me
how to water ski. Who
would have thought that
something we did to get
away from the real world
would actually turn into a
career.”
Although Amir has accomplished
a lot over his
career, his commitment to
raising funds for various
charity endeavors is one
thing that has remained a
constant.
Amir has devoted several
efforts to raising funds for a
longtime friend of his who
died from Leukemia more
than 10 years ago. Amir
has helped raised nearly
$20,000 in her memory.
The storied announcer,
who is often referred to as
“Dano the Mano” throughout
the water sports community,
doesn’t make it up
to Northbrook as much as
he once did. But, his time
at GBN is one memory
of Northbrook he’ll never
forget.
“One thing that I’ve realized
about GBN was that
those teachers worked so
hard to leave no kid behind,”
Amir said. “Even
though I wasn’t in some of
the highest classes, I feel
like I got an insanely good
education. ... It just seems
like there was a lot of success
and positivity that
came out of GBN.”
Amir interviews Austin Keen during his “Golden
Mic” podcast. Amir has spent more than 14 years
announcing water sports.
Amir developed a love for water skiing at an early age.
He skied with the Aquanuts water ski club for more than
10 years. Photo courtesy of Tiare Miranda