The future of SA Surfing - the good, the bad and the ugly

Some people might wonder what the hell I am talking about here? There are more surfers than ever in SA, the shops do alright, surf lessons are booming and all in all everyone wants to be a surfer. This in itself might be the problem. The growing popularity of our lifestyle is bringing more and more people into the lineup, but at the same time these new surfers are not being groomed and taught by the older more experienced surfers in the lineup. They are not being taught the basics, the guy on your inside has priority, don't paddle around someone on your outside, if you are a kook stay away from the main peak with your mini-Malibu until you have learn't how to actually make the drop on a fast 4ft wave. Remember this point as I move on...

Want more of this?

Professional surfing in SA is on a one way ticket to the grave! I hear the choruses of, "Thats rubbish!" wafting out like the pong from the sewerage factory on the N2 as I drive by, but unfortunately my point is valid. Yes, we have Jordy Smith, the world number 2, but what comes after? We only have 3 other surfers in the World Tour top 100, Travis Logie, Lord Royden Bryson, Brandon Jackson and Dale Staples, who gets a prime seading thanks to his 3rd place in the 2010 Junior rankings. Four guys out of 100 of the top surfers in the world, is that really how good we are? The new ASP system is also designed to make it harder for surfers to crack the WCT field, so how long will it be before Jordy has support on the premier tour?

No reason this cant be a local club contest!

How do we go about changing this status quo? Logic says that like the Brazilians, Australians and Americans, who dominate the world tour, we need strong local junior tours and a very strong local tour for our surfers to learn how to compete on the world tour. We need our guys and girls to surf competitive heats as much as possible, we need them to earn money for their accomplishments and we need them to be sponsored properly so that they can afford to actually go out there and attack the world tour. Unfortunately, our local surf tour, the PST, has pretty much ceased to exist. Of the 3 major WQS competitions we had in South Africa, only one remains and we have one WCT in Jbay. This leaves South African surfers with woefully little opportunity to gain experience, points and prize money to gain enough leverage to get on tour. Our local surf brands simply don't have the money to support multiple campaigns and we desperately need to gain more corporate support for the sport. Where does this leave us?

South African surfing needs an overhaul. My solution is simple, we need to start at the bottom and work our way up. First step to getting SA surfing back on track is the rebirth of club surfing in our country. Why are the Australians dominating world surfing? Because they have the strongest Club system on the planet and this rolls through to the provincial, national and professional tours. Growing up in the Eastern Cape we had a couple of surf clubs we could join and this was the same for all the major surfing towns. I got taught by the older guys, I got abused as a grommet, earned my spot in the local line up and had a really good time throughout. Our surf history is peppered with great stories, moments and events from the inter club rivalries of the seventies and eighties. Our greatest surfers such as Sean Thompson, Martin Potter and many more grew up in the club scenes of their day. This is where they learnt to surf (Take note of the first paragraph of this commentary), grew their competitive strategies, were supported by the fellow club members and ultimately found their stride as professional surfers.

The groms need surf clubs!

This is not just a statement on my part. Myself and a couple of other concerned surfers, namely Robby MacDonald, Dutchie and our local surfers have started the process. This past Saturday we had the first West Coast Boardriders versus Llandudno Surf Club competition. Eight guys from each club surfed in heats till Royden, representing Llandudno, eventually won, with the West Coast guys taking the club win. Everyone who came had fun, everyone who came wants to do it again. The process has started. Tasha Mentasti, from Surfing SA, was there representing and backed up my feelings on this matter - without club surfing, SA professional surfing will die.

Dutchie and the boys from the West have started their club.

So here is my challenge to you all, as surfers, parents of surfers and marketing directors of brands in and out of surfing. Get together with your mates at your local beach, form a club, get hold of Tasha (Surfing South Africa) and get your local club off the ground. If you are a member of a current club that is still running, register with SSA. if you have a brand that benefits from surfing in any way, get behind your local guys and support club surfing. The goal? To create a strong and enjoyable club surfing culture in South Africa, supporting grass roots surfing and development. We can make surfing competitions fun again, while strengthening our representation in World Surfing. Get this off of the ground and I promise Llandudno Surf Club will host the reborn SA Club Surfing Champs in 2012. I guarantee it. I will make it happen if I have to spill blood to make it happen. Get involved and we can not only save surfing in SA, but we can make it better!