BRITISH water skiing is to benefit from a generous legacy of more than £200,000 left in the will of a popular and talented official who died earlier this year.

Jill Howard, who lived in Cheriton Fitzpaine, just six miles from Crediton, was a passionate supporter of the sport for more than three decades.

She was the only British woman to hold the top-level international judging qualification which took her across the world as a volunteer official, including to World Championships.

Jill died in April at the age of 61 after living with cancer for six years. Her bequest has just been announced by her cousin, Alison Thomas.

“Jill recognised that the lack of government funding for water skiing presented many challenges for the sport, the difficulties in attracting and developing young talent and helping athletes reach and maintain elite level,” Alison said.

“She felt and understood the frustration of the young people and the wider sport that the lack of resources caused.  Jill wanted to make a difference and leave a lasting and positive legacy to a sport which had given her so much, so many friends, so many adventures.”

The precise amount of money will be determined in the New Year but it is thought to be in excess of £200,000.

The bequest was made to Friends of Tournament – a committee set up specifically to raise funds to develop competitive three event (slalom, tricks and jump) – water skiing, which is also known as tournament water skiing, and to support British athletes from the very young just starting in the sport to the elite level, with grants awarded towards their travel to international competitions.

“We are so grateful to Jill for this unbelievably generous bequest,” Friends of Tournament’s Mark Beard said.

“It is not an overstatement to say that this money will make a huge difference. I believe we will be able to double our efforts to attract and coach young skiers and maybe even help produce our next World Champion.

“We will work with Alison over the coming months to consider how we can maximise the impact for tournament water skiing and remember Jill in a fitting and lasting way.”

As a non-Olympic and non-Commonwealth Games sport, water skiing receives no elite or talent programme funding from UK Sport or Sport England. Despite the lack of resources, GB has managed to produce many World and European Champions over the years and is recognised as a global water skiing powerhouse.

In October at the 2021 World Championships in Florida, USA, 22-year-old Joel Poland took the biggest prize in the sport, becoming Overall World Champion and breaking the world record in the process. The British team won the Team silver medal.

Jill was born in Watford in 1959. She moved to Devon in 2017.

Jill started water skiing in the early 1990s. After a back injury which prevented her from taking to the water, she decided to serve the sport by training to become a water ski official.

All her work in water skiing was carried out as an unpaid volunteer. In 2015, she was named British Water Ski and Wakeboard Volunteer of the Year and in 2020 she was awarded BWSW honorary membership.

British Water Ski and Wakeboard is the sport’s governing body and a non-profit making membership organisation.

All its income is invested in developing and protecting water skiing and wakeboarding across the UK from the grassroots to our top athletes. This year, 2021 is its 70th anniversary.