www.supracer.com/2014-isa-world-champs-team-australia-revealed/

Only Karla on the women's list? That doesn't make sense? What about defending champ ange?
Good to see that the four lads didn't get dropped for Jamie or Travis coming in as a wildcard or something , not putting them down but who makes the effort in the nationals is who earns their ticket .

Oh I see , I thought ange finished second in the marathon at the titles, and had some bad luck in the surf in the bop,
Bugger

Wow!! Thanks for the info jacko, I had a feeling not seeing ange on the list was the reasons you explained.. Extremely remote location being very expensive to get to.

That is a joke if that's true which I'm sure you wouldn't state if it wasn't about no funding and no sponsor.. Jesus 85 year old men get government funding to go play lawn bowls against other nations at world titles. SUP is the fastest growing water sport in the world atm , how could surfing Aus not get a corporate sponsor to pay for flights accom for the team.. That really is disappointing.

If I were in you're/anges shoes I too would be committing everything for the World Series as that really is growing into something really professional and it has prize money even if it is very little it all makes it more worthwhile

Thanks for sharing.

Is there only one spot for one female race paddler?

Thanks for the info Ali :)

Well said..

Is the world racing tour coming to AUS that's the big question !!

I reckon surfing aus should use some of the money everyone was charged to compete at the nationals
Just saying

I can't understand that New Zealand gives it's competitors a Government grant if you win or place at the worlds which will cover the next 2 years. But the Aussies who have just cleaned up over the last 3 years don't get a cent. It's like the Olympics of the old days pay your way for everything and you only get a free track suit and a hat.

We clearly have some of the best in the world surely that's worth some form of sponsorship. Jacko to his credit tried to organise a fund raiser for the Aussie team and Surfing Australia shut him down due to conflict of interest , he's a Kiwi for christ sake. If by starting a fund raiser conflicts with the Surfing Australia sponsors let those sponsors step up with some cash or back off and let us raise the cash from other interest.

Rant over??????..

chrispy said..

....plus how can you not be profitable when you charge so much for peeps to compete?

Don't quote me on this but I suspect it might have a little to do with the fact that there were many unfilled allocations at nationals and therefore, the revenue from entrance fees was well short of what was anticipated.

I agree I have heard of groms in surfing been covered all expenses to travel and compete in surf comps they invest in these kids because they believe they are a good chance of being the next mick and parko and being world champs on the world stage.

That is what someone like jake is about to be if he goes world champ! World champ of the fastest growing water sport in the world.. Surely that's worth investing in

We'll said piros the outgoings of the Aussies weren't that much and they had sponsorship that's why they wouldn't move the bop race and marathon to suit the conditions.
That was the call at the time.

teatrea said..


The reason is mate old prejudice dies hard , Surf Aus is their primarily to advance the cause of surfing. Id imagine their would be quite a few folk in the organization that hate sup. Maybe they will get it right in future events they run , its a learning curve for them as well I guess , I certainly hope they realise the potential in the sport and start to invest in it. Because they haven't so far. Just my opinion could be wrong , and ill still support the events they run in the hope they will realise the sport will be great for them also , you have to give back not just take!

If you accept that Surfing Australia did not make a profit on nationals, then by definition, they did in fact invest in SUP by staging a stand alone event and taking a loss. The money they lost is an investment.

To a fair extent, the wider SUP community needs to match that investment in nationals by filling the available allocations. Honestly, we look a bit half-baked in demanding more money, being that we are "the fastest growing blah blah blah" when our own commitment to events is not even as strong as knee boarders.

teatrea said..

If surfing Aus did not make a profit on Nationals so what! as you say they made an investment in the future of the sport , they just went about it with high entry fees , no real incentive other than a few spots to ISA. Do prone surf athletes get funding to compete? Have surfing Aus tried to introduce a junior program or have plans to do so? The facts are sup is the fastest growing water sport in the world and will eclipse traditional surfing in numbers participating by a million miles. Seems other countries representative bodies are awake to the potential , maybe we are just a bit slow on the uptake.

Just playing devil's advocate here, has anyone ever questioned the validity of this fact or do we just parrot the claim often enough to make it seem real? If it's true, I imagine all the retailers and distributors of SUP gear must be absolutely rolling in cash. I'm in the wrong business.

PTWoody said..

teatrea said..

If surfing Aus did not make a profit on Nationals so what! as you say they made an investment in the future of the sport , they just went about it with high entry fees , no real incentive other than a few spots to ISA. Do prone surf athletes get funding to compete? Have surfing Aus tried to introduce a junior program or have plans to do so? The facts are sup is the fastest growing water sport in the world and will eclipse traditional surfing in numbers participating by a million miles. Seems other countries representative bodies are awake to the potential , maybe we are just a bit slow on the uptake.

Just playing devil's advocate here, has anyone ever questioned the validity of this fact or do we just parrot the claim often enough to make it seem real? If it's true, I imagine all the retailers and distributors of SUP gear must be absolutely rolling in cash. I'm in the wrong business.

It was only a couple of years ago when I was dragon boating and everyone was claiming it was the fastest growing water sport in the country. You think it's hard to send two top representatives to the worlds in SUP, you should try and find a crew of 20 paddlers willing to fund their own trip to the worlds?

PTWoody said..

teatrea said..



If surfing Aus did not make a profit on Nationals so what! as you say they made an investment in the future of the sport , they just went about it with high entry fees , no real incentive other than a few spots to ISA. Do prone surf athletes get funding to compete? Have surfing Aus tried to introduce a junior program or have plans to do so? The facts are sup is the fastest growing water sport in the world and will eclipse traditional surfing in numbers participating by a million miles. Seems other countries representative bodies are awake to the potential , maybe we are just a bit slow on the uptake.

Just playing devil's advocate here, has anyone ever questioned the validity of this fact or do we just parrot the claim often enough to make it seem real? If it's true, I imagine all the retailers and distributors of SUP gear must be absolutely rolling in cash. I'm in the wrong business.

I think its pretty much self evident , id imagine some retailers are doing very well , of course doing very well in buisness is all relative to your buisness plan. Id imagine its helped quite a few prone shapers and surf stores stay afloat in the recent hard times too.Anyway this subject pops up every year after the Nationals , Ill shut up about it now .Other than to say I dont think an organization that has surfing as its core objective is the best organization to be controlling SUP. But whats the alternative?

I'm putting in my 2 cents for open discussion, what I have written here is only my point of view, add subtract, flame it out do what you like but planning and learning from the past is the only way forward. I guess the point is do you want to bitch and carry on and take you bat and ball home or do you want to make a difference and change the future?

1) SA's core business is short board surfing and SUP surfing can be seen to be in direct conflict with its core business. In many ways it would be in SA's best commercial interest for SUP Surfing to reach an early demise.

2) SA's interest in SUP is the possibility that some point in the future SUP Racing will go to the Olympics and thats why they are investing in the sport. SUP racing is also a low time / infrastructure investment for a relatively high return if the numbers are high enough. You don't need judges and days of peoples time you only need a few hours for a much higher bottom line. Again remember SA is a business not a charity they are there to be profitable.

3) Until the equipment cost is at a relatively affordable level that allows SUP to become mainstream (unlikely due to volume in Australia) you can all but forget inclusion on a broad scale. $100-250- 400 deepening on your wallet for a second hand prone long / short surfboard and bare minimum $600- 900 for a second hand sup. Mum and dad most likely won't or simply cant fund it for the kids to even have a go.

4) Fastest growing water sport in the world? It may be, however in the scheme of things in Australia it would be lucky to be the pimple on the ass of an elephant compared to short boarding. Just on the West Coast of Vic at my local beach there are circa 3 x 30 kids x 2 session a day on the weekend going through Vegimite Surf Groms training x how many beaches just on the West Coast of Vicco? In Qld I imagine the numbers would be staggering.

5) Up until recently when there was a 180 deg turn around, the suggested age of a junior in the sport was 25+ go figure on that one. With little support for any type of junior program to that point, you get what you sow. If you don't get the juniors involved you don't have a future.

6) With the focus changed to Elite racing in the last few years and the perceived demise of the fun aspect of the club sport the numbers in Vicco (not talking about any other state) dropped significantly. Joe blogs doesn't jump out of his car walk up and say yea sure I want to jump on a board and slog paddle 12km-20km. SUP Vic addressed this at the GMP and there turn around was pretty staggering. Fun and inclusivity 1st will broaden your base, $$$ and clout.

7) The removal of the unlimited board and the farce that was the 12'6, 14 class also had a large effect including confusing the retailers on what to even stock and it affected who would even come to an event down here, combine that with the arms race and need for a quiver of 3 - 5 boards flat water downwind inflatable etc etc etc and your average joe was totally left behind. The confusion of what to buy combined with the cash to fund even 1 competitive board was beyond the average punter. Make it simple and fun and they will return in time.

8) The SUP Sport here in Australia has its focus on the 50- 200 at the top end when for the sport to grow it needs to broaden its base and build its numbers at the punters end to the 1000s and get back the froth and fun that it had 6-7 years ago. The shops make max bottom line with broad based numbers and when the shop / sponsors have money rolling in from the numbers they are happy to pony it up for events /travel etc thats really a no brainer. Build the base and you will get your funding for ISA and many other things.


9) SUP needs its own Governing Body with people dedicated to the long term future of the sport and a 5 - 10 year plan that looks not only at the elite aspects of the sport but growth and sustainability not a fast return now attitude.


Flame it up as much as you like as I said above its about getting a group together with an interest in the sport to guide and nurture all aspects and disciplines moving forward "said in best Julia Gillard voice"