Elmer and Barbara Stailing moved to Merritt Island and joined the Spaceland Water Ski Club in the late 1960s. Elmer was a Senior Judge from 1971 until his death in 1993. He was an organizer for tournaments throughout the nation and served as Chief Judge for many events. Barbara served as a local, regional, and national Senior Scorer from 1975 until she retired in 2002. She also served as Chief Scorer at many of these events. She and Elmer were involved with three-event water skiing, barefooting, show skiing, kite flying, collegiate water skiing and anything else that came along. They spent an average of 40 weeks a year traveling to tournaments throughout the country and were instrumental in convincing many people to become officials and were mentors for many aspiring officials and skiers. Barbara served as the chief registrar for Regionals, Nationals and the Masters for more than a decade and when Elmer was not judging they shared the duty.

Elmer was a Director for the American Water Ski Association in the 1970s and became an Honorary National Director. Barbara and Elmer were also Directors for the National Collegiate Water Ski Association and Honorary National Directors. Barbara was instrumental in developing the scoring system that is still used today by the NCWSA. Elmer was awarded the Award of Distinction from the American Water Ski Educational Foundation in 1992 and both of them have been inducted into the Florida Water Ski Federation Hall of Fame.