They mean residents rights?

Most of the time with these things foreigners can compete but not win the title
nb. Says australia citizens - is that a citizen of Australian

bjw said...
It wouldnt be fair to have the Australian Champion a kiwi.

So would you also think its not fair to have a foreigner win the Australian open (tennis)?

They dont call the Australian Open winner the Australian Champion.

bjw said...
They dont call the Australian Open winner the Australian Champion.

So the victor of this freestyle event is gonna be called 'the Australian champion'? That's settled the discussion.

Saying citizens only is just a big restriction on an event in my opinion, I always think 'let the best man/woman win' from any nationality.

I used to be heavily involved in Motorsport and the formula 3 British championship was won by Australian (ricciardo) and mexican (Perez) when I was there, they were both British f3 champions, pretty sure no one was bothered by the nationalities.

But whatever I'm not entering this event just having an opinion.

National have always been open to Australia Permanent Resident as well, this is the same for most sports.
Understandable if you only on a holiday or temp visa but living in the country for a number of years paying my aksa fees and not being allowed to enter, not cool

Then again pick your preferred post if you a resident or a citizen and you're all good

To think anyone not Australian citizen could enter a Australian national championship is ****ing ridiculous.

Interesting approach to the problem, I reckon.

A similar situation happened with Australian Snowboarding comps about 10-15 years ago.
The Australian Titles/Nationals used to only have Aussie riders competing in them.
As the popularity of the sport grew, so did the prize pool for the riders getting on the podium.
All of a sudden, absolute shredders from the States and Canada were coming over pretty much to clean up the cash.
Made it tough on the Aussies, that's for sure.

sirstomp said..
shredders from the States and Canada were coming over pretty much to clean up the cash.

You dont just pop over from the USA and become a Australia Permanent Resident

Good on the organisers for doing this. It's a small sport and I think all the freestyle Aussie competitors love to battle it out and see themselves ranked next to their peers.

I'm sure they loved going against the international crew too. But when it comes to awards night, it's going to be more fun for the Aussies to get the reward of being able to say I've got a trophy that says I'm the best Australian rider.

Saying this, any contest being organised is awesome for us, and a headache for the organisers, so full credit for organising this, as I'm sure you don't profit or benefit from it. It's more than Im doing for my sport!

Isn't the main problem, if there is one, the lack of competitors and inspiration for a new generation?

NZ always let residents enter, just saying...

Be awesome to see a full open event, not much going on really in recent years....

Official statement from Kiteboarding Australia Limited:''Kiteboarding Australia and Kiteboarding NSW would like to clarify that all divisions and disciplines of the event are open to overseas competitors. Only an Australian citizen or permanent resident however can win the Australian Championships in each division. As such please dis-regard the ‘Australian Citizen Only’ message on our previous communications as this is no longer the case.Secondly the feedback regarding the artwork itself has been a little negative. This is not to have a go at anyone as I know this would have been created extremely quickly due to the short notice of the event.Under normal circumstances all artwork for the Nationals would be reviewed by the Events, Competitions & Rules committee (ECR) /The KAL Board but due to the urgency in announcing the event details this did not happen. However I do feel at this point now that the dates & location have been confirmed that there is time to make modifications to the artwork and have it reviewed by the above parties before KAL sends out its mass email to all members."Stay tuned for more.