There is no problems with todays youth at all. I teach in some of the roughest schools in the west of Melbourne and its all down to OPPORTUNITY.

If a student gets the opportunity to shine they generally grasp it with two hands. It all have to link in with parent support not a lot of students and youth have this.

I have taken students down surfing to the coast and you can see some amazing talent BUT they have to be exposed to it for it to matter to them.

I guess I have seen kiteboarding from the other side as well. In my youth I skateboarded a lot, worked and skate shops and eventually worked for distributors and ran skate comps. There is great value in skate comps for advertising your product and building a relationship with that culture. The best thing I have seen lately is for those sponsors to have a comp day that is more free ride.

For instance a comp in melbourne was made specifically for youtube videos. Vans hired and indoor skatboard park for 1 weekend. Invited skateboarders and videographers to post youtube sequences of those videos. The footage was posted and voted on. You would think that you could rig the voting. No quite the opposite the more the underground the skater and the sequence the better the votes.

Kiteboarding in Australia needs to wake up. It has way to many sports to compete with. It is expensive but so is motocross or surfing or rowing. All of thes sports have recognised organisations and national comps.

You need to package your comps so that the media and Online can easily access it and that the youth can be exposed to it.

HappyG said...
There is no problems with todays youth at all. I teach in some of the roughest schools in the west of Melbourne and its all down to OPPORTUNITY.

If a student gets the opportunity to shine they generally grasp it with two hands. It all have to link in with parent support not a lot of students and youth have this.

I have taken students down surfing to the coast and you can see some amazing talent BUT they have to be exposed to it for it to matter to them.

I guess I have seen kiteboarding from the other side as well. In my youth I skateboarded a lot, worked and skate shops and eventually worked for distributors and ran skate comps. There is great value in skate comps for advertising your product and building a relationship with that culture. The best thing I have seen lately is for those sponsors to have a comp day that is more free ride.

For instance a comp in melbourne was made specifically for youtube videos. Vans hired and indoor skatboard park for 1 weekend. Invited skateboarders and videographers to post youtube sequences of those videos. The footage was posted and voted on. You would think that you could rig the voting. No quite the opposite the more the underground the skater and the sequence the better the votes.

Kiteboarding in Australia needs to wake up. It has way to many sports to compete with. It is expensive but so is motocross or surfing or rowing. All of thes sports have recognised organisations and national comps.

You need to package your comps so that the media and Online can easily access it and that the youth can be exposed to it.

What a good post this is. It was really quite inspirational reading about taking kids surfing and the skateboard part etc...

That YouTube event that was all done "on the line" sounded like something that kiteboarding needs to make it a 'cool' sport with the kiddies.

I would actually happily devote some time and effort and what knowledge I have to helping organize an event like that if there were guys like you around to support and help!

Speaking if which, what does it take for an event like the YouTube one you described? Council permits? Other permissions etc? It may well be worth putting some devoted thought to!

Daniel1973 said..

sir ROWDY said...
What is wrong with Seabreeze??? All my posts just end up looking more like one long incoherent sentence than they usually do...

Perhaps the sentence issue is one of the platform for a voice of an experienced kiter comparing his literary skills to that of a trained and structured sentence writer visa vi an author or English major writing a polemic statement in the face of adversity and encapsulating all that is right and wrong with one fell swoop whilst also dominating ones self control in using standard English punctuation and grammatical profundity whilst all the time concentrating on the subject at hand and becoming immersed in the content of the subject whilst at the same time avoiding standard English vernacular and parlance in favour of complete output of a statement regardless of how coherent or incoherent it may traverse the reading audience?

nah bra theres something done wrong in da matrix i tells ya

I can't help but think, why would anybody want to go in a kiteboarding competition? Unhooked freestyle trick riding is not a discipline of kiting that holds any attraction for the vast majority of kiters.

The gear is highly specialised and suited to only a narrow range of conditions and styles of riding. The training demands are high and the rewards are low.

Even the brands understand that with many pro riders following the free riding path. Certainly in all the sports I do it is much more interesting to read about people doing cool things and having great adventures. Who won the last trick show? Who cares?

Racing might hold more appeal because it's clear cut about who wins and what is happening. Unfortunately kite racing is in the middle of the arms race death throes that windsurfing (and every other sport) went through. Outrageously expensive boards that cost a fortune and are obsolete a few months later.

Don't really care if the young ones don't take it up.I got into kitesurfing 10 years ago as I got sick of arrogant youngsters running me over! .I now find it very relaxing kiting my local during the week with no one out. I believe us kiters now have it like the surfers did in the 60,s..

NoBS said..




Also todays youth are hopeless at basic spelling and grammar.

Too busy tapapatappin out text messages on your Iphones..

I rest my case your honour as per above contribution my trapped.

* by Trapped. ^^^

lol. NoBS the spelling nazi.

Still believe the biggest issue is the affordability of the sport.Surfing involves a board and a wetsuit.For under 500 bucks you can get your kid in the surf.For kiting 500 bucks will get you your lessons and that's it.

INTHELOOP said..
Not sure what comps you looking at mate.Andy Yates won PKRA 2010, Keahi got several world titles under his belt. Ewan Jaspan has been top 20 last few years and wld have been top 10 if he didn't get injuries. We have heaps of racers in good positions at worlds and international regattas.At the nationals there was some good young talent showing tooAt the end of the day you need a lot of determination, talent and commitment to be up there plus the support from brands/ sponsors and parents.

pkra and ika for the last few years, as for the nationals sure youll get some talented kids but compared to European riders the quality is lacking, I live in the windiest spot in Australia and the isn't a single kid under 19 who rides, a few of us have done our bit to help with gear but the seems a total lack of interest, surely if we have a kid whos talented enough to compete then sponsorship in a prospering country like ours shouldn't be hard to find, but this alone wont attract kids to our sport, maybe the likes of waksa and other states organisations should start a school scheme to attract kids, with that in mind im pretty sure our local school has very little water based activities, we have great kayaking surf, wind,conditions year round, some input from a teacher might shed some light, I know mike walker had a youth sceme going in qld , and was behing andy yates and keyahis mentoring

cauncy said..
I know mike walker had a youth sceme going in qld , and was behing andy yates and keyahis mentoring

Did you mean "Behind"??? If so I think that's a bit of a fib. Mike does great stuff for kids and schools getting into kiting and showing the sport to a wider audience but I know for a fact that Keahi had little to do with Mike and the fact that both Keahi and Andy succeeded in this sport is because they are both two very driven individuals. Their success came entirely from their own drive (and also a bit of help from sponsors and parents etc.).Ewan is spot on, hopefully we can get more of a crew at the next nationals, if it hadn't been called at 2 months notice and run the same time as a world tour even I would have been there for sure. Honestly there should be some kind of rule to stop that happening, I mean if we actually had our top riders competing on a world level it would be pretty silly to hold a National Titles while they were all away. I know this wasn't this case this time but it easily could have been. Also maybe I could have entered then and had the chance to steal a title while Ewan was injured .

^ I don't think anyone was saying that you have to try unhooked tricks... This thread was merely pointing out that there isn't a lot of upcoming talent in AUS and by your own admission I guess you're kind of highlighting that fact.

Dont worry guys, i have the future world champ brewing in my feonse's tummy, give it about 15 years or so and he or she will be giving australia something to chear about hahaha.

luke smith 16 years Freestyle
Aron kenny 13 years Freestyle
Billy hampton 14 Waves
James storm 14 Waves
and more coming
Don't worry were on to it!!!
Why are 30% of ASP surfers Aussies???
Because we are a nation of water babies .

James is going to do the Morocco PKRA wave event next year in the adults as there are no junior events if its on
We haven't had a wave national for 3 years.
Thank god we have merrimbula /Kite Stock and Robe for the groms to showcase their talents.
Thanks to North/Fanatic/Ion/Cabrinha /Ozone/Axis who are the ones i know are supporting the groms
Also all the shops that are providing gear and knowledge

Comps are great but the biggest problem we have here is everyone wants to have an opinion but they don't do anything to help and then get on forums and criticise the people that try to make it happen , the next is people that promiss to contribute eg shops sponsors etc and then when it comes to the crunch they pull out and leave the organiser looking like a fool. Comps don't have to be complicated its about getting together and pushing yourself to be better and pushing those around you to be better.
I've helped a lot of kids out in kiting over the last few years and have had a lot of kids S$&t in my face. I've sold kites below cost and even used my own money to help kids that claimed they would try really hard and then caught them selling the gear for a profit. And the theres the kids that go from shop to shop with there dads who can clearly afford to pay full price saying there kid is the next best thing bla bla bla, these are the kids that have wrecked the sport in Australia and the competition scene. If they ran a comp for juniors that was based on who had the newest gear and could not land a trick Australia would be number 1

And on another note just a quick one about James storm , I don't really know him but if every kid that's into kiting right now had a tenth of the enthusiasm this kid has we would be killing it and I take my hat off to his old man that does everything humanly possible to help his kids for fill there dreams and promote the sport.
A wise man once told me the best person on the water is the one having the most fun

Rant over

Sir rowdy:
Did you know James has just got back on the water after a serious leg break? Positive encouragement is the key with youth, give him props for the effort he already puts in! Think about how many comps you've been in? What level you've reached? Then stand back and remember he's 14.

Hookworm:
Your dead right. I've only known James for a few months and he puts massive effort into surfing, suping, kiting with twin tips, kiting with surfboards and apparently applies himself at school as well. I was watching him at rosebud on Friday and hanging out with his dad, (who by the way helps everyone of every age and happily lends kites, boards and advice to anyone that wants it) and I was in awe of this kid who is still recovering from the leg injury, unhooking and doing feet off the board tricks in the air while looping the kite. When he came in we had a chat, just talking crap and just like every time I chat with him, which is at least once or twice a week he is a great kid that is humble and appreciative of his old man and can actually communicate with adults.

He's the only competing kid I know so my exposure is limited, but being the owner of 2 of my own boys (8 & 12) I can honestly say James is the type of kid who I'd call the perfect role model for any kid getting into the sport.

He might make it, he might not, but either way you can already tell he's going to be a good quality adult and that means a s**t load more than any trophy you can put on the shelf!

If anyone ever wants to can him or his dad, do it in person and preferably while I'm there to berate you and expose you for the morally and intellectually inferior human that you are.

Now THATS how to rant!!!

Daniel1973 said..
Sir rowdy:
Did you know James has just got back on the water after a serious leg break? Positive encouragement is the key with youth, give him props for the effort he already puts in! Think about how many comps you've been in? What level you've reached? Then stand back and remember he's 14.

Nope I wasn't aware of that, my condolences to the young man I hope he gets out there and is shredding hard again soon!
I've seen James kite at the Mambo and I also judged the comp in Morocco. I was only trying to highlight the fact that he will really have to push it if he wants to do well, that's just the reality of competition, always will be I'm afraid. If he's got what it takes (like Keahi and Andy) then my comments will only drive him to push harder.
I don't know what you are trying to say??? I've won plenty of comps along the way National titles and Mambo titles amongst them, but I still know I would have a hard time trying to wave it out against the best competitors in the world. I was 14 once as well (Junior national champ then to)... doing the same thing as James and I'm afraid age isn't the be-all of whether someone will become a good competitor at something, you really need to push if you want to be up there.

pgc said..
lThanks Daniel

Rowdy he is doing waves. he's not a free styler.
Hes won the juniors at Mamabo waves every year since he was 12

I did not know you judged waves ????
Give us some pointers will ya

I know that... I was at the Mambo and rode with him there, I came 4th myself in Mens.
As I said already I won the Windsurfing national waves titles and Mambo both 3 consecutive years, but I'm afraid that doesn't really mean much on a world scale, especially when you are placing a Junior against an Open field. I'm not trying to discourage the boy, I'm just trying to put some perspective on the situation.
I grew up surfing and kiting some of the best beachies and point breaks in AUS, to be honest I was a surfer well before I rode a wakeboard. The only pointers you need is to make sure you can surf with fluidity and style, make sure you can pull out a few big punts and airs consistently for a competition format and be sure that you can put it all together at the drop of a hat.