[b]FROM SUP RACER I suggest they should represent all disciplines not just racing :)[/b]


Who???s Running The Show? SUP Athletes Association Reveals Board Of Directors
posted December 18th, 2013 by Christopher Parker, Boss Man
Stand Up Paddle Athletes AssociationOn Monday we asked ???what??? is the Stand Up Paddle Athletes Association. Well now we know ???who??? it is as well, with the initial Board of Directors line up revealed. And it???s not too shabby???

The new organisation, which aims to promote the sport by giving the athletes a collective voice, will be helmed by: both of the reigning Molokai-2-Oahu Champions, National Champions, State Champions, European Champions, SUP adventure record holders as well as perhaps the most well-traveled SUP athlete in the world.

In case you missed our story yesterday or have completely avoided Facebook the past 24 hours (seriously, every three seconds I see new ???such and such likes SUPAA??? pop up in my news feed), here???s the elevator pitch (this is the group???s official ???Mission Statement???):

SUPAA is dedicated to promoting excellence in the sport of stand up paddling. In pursuing this mission, SUPAA will (a) establish organizational standards to improve the quality of events and instruction (b) promote rules to ensure fair competition and (c) endeavor to establish a standard of excellence in all aspects of stand up paddling. These initiatives will produce a uniformly positive experience for stand up paddle constituent groups, including but not limited to: athletes, officials, sponsors, spectators, volunteers, media, consumers and manufacturers.

But who???s running the show?

Travis Grant - Australia ??? Reigning Molokai and BOP Distance Race Champion
Eric Terrien - France ??? European Champ and one of the best in the world
Chase Kosterlitz - USA ??? East Coast Champ and one of the strongest paddlers in the world
Lina Augaitis - Canada ??? Rising star on the women???s scene. Canadian Champ and Top 3 @ the Battle
Terrene Black - Australia ??? Reigning Molokai Champ
Bart de Zwart - Netherlands ??? 3x SUP 11 City Tour Champion and renowned SUP explorer
Belar Diaz - Spain ??? Mr. Everywhere traveled the world and competed in 29 different elite races this year

That???s quite a list. Though of course being a good paddler doesn???t automatically equate to being a good Director. Fortunately I think we???re in pretty safe hands. I know this entire bunch personally and can vouch for their passion and dedication to the sport. Plus between them they???ve got over 300 races of experience, so they have a fairly intimate knowledge of the stand up paddling world.

The Board of Directors will be in charge of organising and steering SUPAA, though they???ll be seeking the input of serious paddlers from right across the racing the scene as well. It???s a very impressive line-up featuring champion, well-respected paddlers from across the globe (the seven Directors represent six different countries).

The SUP Athletes Association launches on 31st December so I???m sure we???ll be hearing a lot more about the group???s work in the coming days and weeks.

This will be interesting. Good mix of nationalities and good athletes. About time an organization like this has been instigated , I hope the sup community gets behind them. I know I will.

OG SUP said..

[b]FROM SUP RACER I suggest they should represent all # not just racing :)[/b]

At the initial meeting they touched on surfing. So as its early days you will see a sub-committee about surfing added to the agenda. This, as I remember, will be steered by Sean Poynter.
Someone else that was there may be able to add more

HumanCartoon said..

Who's funding this body...and how?

how could that matter?

HumanCartoon said..

husq2100 said..

HumanCartoon said..

Who's funding this body...and how?

how could that matter?

Really?

These sorts of bodies cost money to run. If it's a nice idea with no money behind it, it probably won't go anywhere. If there is some money behind it, it might have a chance of getting up and doing something...but sometimes money comes with strings attached. Is it funded/backed by national associations or peak bodies? Is it backed by manufacturers? Both? Neither?

how about we give them a chance before picking the thing to pieces before anything has even happend...

I think it is a very good question. In fact I think it is the most important one. The person providing the cash is going to have a larger say in what happens than those who do not. We do need a body like this, and it is also reasonable to ask who is running the show, and what their situation is , in order to avoid conflicts of interest or corruption. They want our support - fair enough, but if you want support then you need to be willing to explain what you are offering and why you are the people for the job. I am at present broadly positive about this, but I too have lots of Qs I'd like to ask. Is this organisation going to be run by e.g. membership subscription , or what? It seems too early at present to judge where this is going, or indeed if it is going anywhere, so time will tell I guess.

www.facebook.com/supathletes

My understanding from communication so far is that this group of athletes collectively believes that by restricting the boards which are able to be raced upon at the elite level will make it fairer moving ahead.

More importantly it will keep the equipment relevant so that regular paddlers are not alienated and unable to enter the sport.

The prime example is windsurfing, things became so specialised nobody learnt anymore, eventually they ran out of sailors, revenue made by the companies and ultimately retraction of sponsorship of events and athletes.

My belief is that these guys know if they as the athletes allow their sport to sail off into the abyss it will never reach what it could become meaning ultimately that their careers as athletes will be short lived.

CMC said..

My understanding from communication so far is that this group of athletes collectively believes that by restricting the boards which are able to be raced upon at the elite level will make it fairer moving ahead.

More importantly it will keep the equipment relevant so that regular paddlers are not alienated and unable to enter the sport.

The prime example is windsurfing, things became so specialised nobody learnt anymore, eventually they ran out of sailors, revenue made by the companies and ultimately retraction of sponsorship of events and athletes.

My belief is that these guys know if they as the athletes allow their sport to sail off into the abyss it will never reach what it could become meaning ultimately that their careers as athletes will be short lived.

One would hope that your second point is given the greatest consideration when the restriction to race boards is being discussed. A panel comprising elite racers who are constantly confronted with the difficulties of international travel may be inclined to settle on a board length (say 12'6") that alienates regular paddlers and prevents many others from entering the sport, thereby ensuring the sport sails off into the abyss as you suggest. It will be a tremendous challenge for this panel to compromise their own best interests in the short term so that the sport can flourish, which will indeed extend their career and ultimate earning potential. Nevertheless, with the names involved, I trust this particular group has the long term vision necessary to do the right thing by the sport.

husq2100 said..

PTWoody said..

CMC said..

My understanding from communication so far is that this group of athletes collectively believes that by restricting the boards which are able to be raced upon at the elite level will make it fairer moving ahead.

More importantly it will keep the equipment relevant so that regular paddlers are not alienated and unable to enter the sport.

The prime example is windsurfing, things became so specialised nobody learnt anymore, eventually they ran out of sailors, revenue made by the companies and ultimately retraction of sponsorship of events and athletes.

My belief is that these guys know if they as the athletes allow their sport to sail off into the abyss it will never reach what it could become meaning ultimately that their careers as athletes will be short lived.

One would hope that your second point is given the greatest consideration when the restriction to race boards is being discussed. A panel comprising elite racers who are constantly confronted with the difficulties of international travel may be inclined to settle on a board length (say 12'6") that alienates regular paddlers and prevents many others from entering the sport, thereby ensuring the sport sails off into the abyss as you suggest. It will be a tremendous challenge for this panel to compromise their own best interests in the short term so that the sport can flourish, which will indeed extend their career and ultimate earning potential. Nevertheless, with the names involved, I trust this particular group has the long term vision necessary to do the right thing by the sport.

Sorry, I dont see how. Why would ALL races become 1 board type? I can see the top racing going that way, but whats to stop local clubs etc having their own divisons? How would that stop someone entering the sport? And for all the STOKE that gets thrown around, it seems if there isnt a specific divison for each individual its dummy spitting time.

If you only have a 12.6 and there is a 14 race going on, will people not enter? Being at the pointy end of the board spectrum is only for the top guys and girls. If you cant have fun on board that may be a few seasons old or shorter than some why do it in the first place?

Oh and the flip side, when someone organises an event, if they are going to get numbers saying "hey we need a class for our longer boards" most will do so (now if 3 people are asking, it may not be worth the hastle, yes it sucks for those 3, but this is the BIG picture after all)

So are you arguing that we have absolutely nothing to learn from windsurfing?

I understand that local race organisers are always free to do as they please, but that extends beyond board limits and into all aspects of racing, in which case, the mission statement of this new group in creating standardisation is only limited to a few elite races. For the rest of the world, we would continue to have chaos, and regional differences. I don't care too much - in our area, we will probably continue to set rules and regulations to please ourselves, if the rules set down by anyone else in any way inhibits the growth or turns away current participants. We learned this lesson the hard way.

Up here in the North of Europe it wouldnt matter a bit. Too few of us.

But look at cycling. To paraphrase the biggest cheater of all time " its not about the bike ( but what drugs you take) ".
I bet Top racers are on epo.

But back on topic...
Easiest thing is to decide max length and width. Leave everything else open.
Or change the format of racing to be more varied so that specislized board wont work.

Rule book looks good , not sure about the drafting rule though. I could see it being a bit contentious. I think 10cm recess should be lowered to 5.

PTWoody said..

teatrea said..

Rule book looks good , not sure about the drafting rule though. I could see it being a bit contentious. I think 10cm recess should be lowered to 5.

I think you'll find they have been very conservative in allowing all current production boards to continue. It would be a very confrontational move for this group to unilaterally ban a board which has sold all around the world for the last 3 or 4 years.

Yeah mate I know , I was joking on that one.Good luck to them It looks very professional.

PTWoody said..

teatrea said..

Rule book looks good , not sure about the drafting rule though. I could see it being a bit contentious. I think 10cm recess should be lowered to 5.

I think you'll find they have been very conservative in allowing all current production boards to continue. It would be a very confrontational move for this group to unilaterally ban a board which has sold all around the world for the last 3 or 4 years.

The one thing with the drafting rule as I read it is that you can draft anyone within the same gender as long as they are on the same board length. It's a little vague, but as I understand it, you CAN draft someone in a different age category. That makes sense because you can't necessarily be expected to know who is in your division. As it is, the board length thing could be tricky as most boards (other than Fanatic) don't have the length written on the back so you can know immediately who you are drafting. And women could probably argue that they were drafting a bloke but thought he looked a bit effeminate.

Actually the rule that I thought was very interesting is the breakdown of age categories - Open = up 40, then it's 41 - 51, and then it's 52 and up. That seems odd.

i think 52 up is a great idea