Do you think we need our own governing body for SUP or is it just trying to reinvent the wheel when we have associations like surfing australia etc?

I personally like the idea of having our own governing body but also see the disadvantages of starting this. The disadvantages being manly a conflict of interests from board manufacturers, Educators and people with vested interest rather then an open non bias organisation.

Lets not get nasty on this one but rather explore the options and understand that as a community of SUPers we all have a right to our opinions on how this would look or if it should even exist.

With sup being a little sport i dont think it can survive without commercial $ if you want it to grow. You have to pay those running it a decent amount of coin and you have to get that from somewhere and i dont think there is enough people doing this sport where rego payments would be enough to support itself YET. i will never be pro yet i would like a group for my son and his mates to be well looked after. Like the tv add says, from little things big things grow and i believe there are enough passionate and smart minded people that can make this happen,not straight away though but it will happen. If something is good enough it will grow and evolve with or without our help. People like to do cool stuff and that is what will make it grow

Piros said...

I don't think so , Surfing Queensland have done great job at the Sup contest they have run here. The government funding and foot print is already there , why complicate it.


What do we actally need....? Insurance & help with promontion and running the contest plus a ranking system.....Surfing Australia/Qld already provide that plus heaps more. What is there to gain from breaking away ?

i'm with you on this. i believe the only gain would be for commerial interests.i wouldn't like to see something like certified race board builders for an example.

surfing qld are very active in their interests with supsa- they are right behind the club in all aspects. they also hold the best sup dw race in australia by far imo

suping needs to grow and not rush into something that might not be ideal long term
cheers

teatrea said...

If your a member of Surfing Aus does the insurance only cover you when your in contests?Or is it cover for general surfing too?

Thanks

i know it used to
but i'd be guessing if i said it still does,ok just rang the dude and he said comps only BUT there is a provision that covers you if you are training for a comp. so that means freesurfing anywhere in australia. hope that helps.

I am really impressed with Surfing Qld. They are putting together the first Coast of Origin contest that will cater for all surf craft. I have been attending their meetings for this and they are very interested in including SUP and working with our club to promote our sport. They are also encouraging other board riding clubs to put forward SUP competitors in the comp. This includes long board and short board clubs. This will only serve to increase the acceptance of our sport which is a major positive.

I have been very impressed by the receptive nature of the short board and long board clubs with this. I feel that they (Surfing Qld) are assisting in broadening our sport and it's acceptance on the Sunshine Coast.

I don't see the benifit of making a seperate organisation when their is already a large governing body that is very keen to assist in such a positive way.

I believe a lot of success and growth in events comes from a small number of people who are prepared to put in the hard yards and organise it. They are normally the ones behind the scene. Many people attend and some even knock events but only a very few are prepared to do the work.

In the case I mentioned above in the Coast Of Origin, if it was not for David and Matt from surfing Qld and the executive from all the board riding clubs it would never have a chance of working.

I believe that Surfing Qld will sanction any organised event that has been organised by a club affiliated with Surfing Qld. They will even help out with advice on how to do things like council permission etc.

An organisation is there to help but I don't think do all the work. But to get an event off the ground it is going to take work of a few and support of many.

Question is who.

laceys lane said...

Adapt said...

Interesting responses crew! I do believe that Surfing Queensland have a great structure and offer opportunities to the SUP community but will they represent the whole SUP community or just the surfing side in the future. Now i know they run the Xcel Open Ocean Paddle Race and it is a well organised event but this is only one event. It would be nice to see more events of this type as well as BOP and SUP surf events run by an organisation (possibly Surfing Queensland/Australia). I'm just noticing at the moment that VIC run a lot of SUP events, who is running the charge on this and what is the turn out like down there?

I definately agree that there is merit in not breaking away from the Surfing Australia regional organisations but how much will they support and promote SUP as an activity.....

i'm not sure where you are going with this. surfing qld/aus are a governing body so to speak. its our job as a sup club, and i'm refering to supsa, to promote sup as an activity in our region. surfing qld support our aims.

if you are part or a member of some other organization, now would probably be a good time declare it i if you care too
cheers

Hey Lacey, I'm member of SUPSA myself and have no affilation with any other organisation for that sake. I have no personal vandetta against Surfing Queensland/Australia, International Surfing Association (ISA) or Academy of Surfing Instructors. I'm only asking such questions and voicing an opinion because like everyone on this SUP forum I would like to see whats best for the sport of SUP in the future.

Adapt said...

laceys lane said...

Adapt said...

Interesting responses crew! I do believe that Surfing Queensland have a great structure and offer opportunities to the SUP community but will they represent the whole SUP community or just the surfing side in the future. Now i know they run the Xcel Open Ocean Paddle Race and it is a well organised event but this is only one event. It would be nice to see more events of this type as well as BOP and SUP surf events run by an organisation (possibly Surfing Queensland/Australia). I'm just noticing at the moment that VIC run a lot of SUP events, who is running the charge on this and what is the turn out like down there?

I definately agree that there is merit in not breaking away from the Surfing Australia regional organisations but how much will they support and promote SUP as an activity.....

i'm not sure where you are going with this. surfing qld/aus are a governing body so to speak. its our job as a sup club, and i'm refering to supsa, to promote sup as an activity in our region. surfing qld support our aims.

if you are part or a member of some other organization, now would probably be a good time declare it i if you care too
cheers

Hey Lacey, I'm member of SUPSA myself and have no affilation with any other organisation for that sake. I have no personal vandetta against Surfing Queensland/Australia, International Surfing Association (ISA) or Academy of Surfing Instructors. I'm only asking such questions and voicing an opinion because like everyone on this SUP forum I would like to see whats best for the sport of SUP in the future.

ok, i think the clubs at the grassroots have to take role first up. a good model i suppose would be to have sup state bodies representing their states clubs and be under the wing with qld surfing etc. then later a national body representing state bodies under surfing australia. sups more or less started in the surf so i think thats a good fit for the moment. i do believe racing will be bigger than surfing by a long shot so that might be/ could be a issue/factor later long.

does that make sense

i must state i'm not keen on the idea where sup companies play a role- imo it wont work and will lead to dissent and break aways. the thing is we as sup pers have the future in our hands. we need to get off our own bums and start at the ground level first
cheers

cheers

laceys lane said...

Adapt said...

laceys lane said...

Adapt said...

Interesting responses crew! I do believe that Surfing Queensland have a great structure and offer opportunities to the SUP community but will they represent the whole SUP community or just the surfing side in the future. Now i know they run the Xcel Open Ocean Paddle Race and it is a well organised event but this is only one event. It would be nice to see more events of this type as well as BOP and SUP surf events run by an organisation (possibly Surfing Queensland/Australia). I'm just noticing at the moment that VIC run a lot of SUP events, who is running the charge on this and what is the turn out like down there?

I definately agree that there is merit in not breaking away from the Surfing Australia regional organisations but how much will they support and promote SUP as an activity.....

i'm not sure where you are going with this. surfing qld/aus are a governing body so to speak. its our job as a sup club, and i'm refering to supsa, to promote sup as an activity in our region. surfing qld support our aims.

if you are part or a member of some other organization, now would probably be a good time declare it i if you care too
cheers

Hey Lacey, I'm member of SUPSA myself and have no affilation with any other organisation for that sake. I have no personal vandetta against Surfing Queensland/Australia, International Surfing Association (ISA) or Academy of Surfing Instructors. I'm only asking such questions and voicing an opinion because like everyone on this SUP forum I would like to see whats best for the sport of SUP in the future.

ok, i think the clubs at the grassroots have to take role first up. a good model i suppose would be to have sup state bodies representing their states clubs and be under the wing with qld surfing etc. then later a national body representing state bodies under surfing australia. sups more or less started in the surf so i think thats a good fit for the moment. i do believe racing will be bigger than surfing by a long shot so that might be a could be a issue/factor later long.

does that make sense

i must state i'm not keen on the idea where sup companies play a role- imo it wont work and will lead to dissent and break aways. the thing is we as sup pers have the future in our hands. we need to get off our own bums and start at the ground level first
cheers

cheers

Lacey that definately makes sense and it would be perfect if that occurs. The ISA rule book explains the rules of SUP surfing and SUP race events, with this in mind ISA is the driving force to get Surfing in the Olympic games so could you say 1. They are the world governing body for unpaid professional surfing and 2. because all of the surf riding sports (excluding clubbie surf ski and paddle boards) are listed under this banner it would make sense like you guy's have been saying to stick with those that support the sport already? By the way if your not aware Surfing Australia is apart of the ISA and has a long history of envolvment with the organisation.

So if others out there agree with this (thanks Lacey, Piros, Swaine, PTWoody for your in put) I'd like to hear their opinions and where to from here?