OK, Cards on the table time.
Whats the state of play with the Victorian club scene?
As a member of the Bass Sup committee I can say without reservation that we are struggling. Yep we need to be chasing sponno, yep we need to be running more contests and yep we need a more polished act....but..... The heavy lifting around the club has been done by the same three or four people for the last two years, they have other jobs, they have mortgages, they have wives, they have kids, they have other club commitments but to a man they are passionate about the growth and promotion of Stand Up Paddling in Victoria and Nationally. My point is, if the club is to continue we need some people to step up.
Now, rumor and innuendo time.
Sniffing the Breeze it seems there may be another club in the offing. Unreal I say, the more the better. This kind of thing can only be good for the sport in Victoria. The more clubs, the more participants, the more organised we are and the more pressure we can bring to bare on the sports governing bodies and the less likely we are to experience the kind of debacle this years States is becoming.
A month or two ago I proposed that we should split the club down the lines of Bass Sup East and Bass Sup West, gather in all the punters and organise a multi coastal contest circuit. It appears that the Eastern element is about to ignite and as I said, regardless of what its called it can only be good for the sport.
But... don't throw the baby out with the bathwater. There's still room for two clubs to run on a semi autonomous basis but on the big things, like competition surfing, junior development and liaising with the governing bodies we should all be on the same page. If there is to be two clubs we need to be joined at the hip.
Which brings me to the crux of the biscuit. The Bass Sup AGM will be held on Saturday at four thirty in the Surfing Vic Offices, Surf Coast Plaza. If there is to be a Bass Sup you need to make sure you get along and have some input. It would be great to see some of the East Coast crew who are over for the race in the morning hang around and drop in for a gathering of the tribe.
Regardless of what goes down we should all look forward to a revitalised contest circuit, social scene and all round hoot fest in 2013
Cheers
Sparx

Hey Sparx,

Any chance of bringing it forward a few hours? As the Vic titles have been postponed, we are now only coming down for the race, which surf Vic are running at 7am!

Hi Sparx..I think you may be referring to a sub committee set up within SUP Vic to assist with the surfing aspect. As Phil mentioned, this is certainly no secret within Bass SUP and plenty of comms have been swung by Rich and Kevin over the last few weeks. I agree with you..the more clubs the better and it is important to remain on the same page and help each other when and where we can regardless...and all clubs will need as much assistance as possible via donation of skills and time within the fraternity and its members. Right now it would appear that despite the sport seemingly growing at a great rate that we, collectively, as a fraternity are not really putting our best foot forward and that needs to change. It is difficult to lobby to Surfing Vic or Surfing Australia for recognition or acceptance when our competition participation numbers are so disappointingly low. I dont think strains on Bass SUP are unique and any SUP Club in Vic right now is going to have a battle on their hands. I think something is missing within the connection between the entry aspect of SUP and Competition. Something that is not enticing suppers to join/support clubs or enter competitions. My guess is that it is offerings..not enough reason to be a member of a Club. SUP Vic delivered above and beyond this season with its Flat Water Series, now we need to find the gaps in surfing. Unfortunately I will not make the Bass SUP agm, I sent through my apologies immediately when Rich informed me of the date as I have a family engagement. I would like to see Bass SUP continue and I have pledged to continue my membership.
yep 'Regardless of what goes down we should all look forward to a revitalised contest circuit, social scene and all round hoot fest in 2013' looking forward to sharing some waves with you guys..regards Nick

Thanks Sparx, I think a few more people may stick around if its a bit earlier. Most of us were going to be staying over there for the weekend, and now that has all changed.

I'm not sure more clubs means more people. If it is participation levels that are down at a competitive level my take would be to have only a handful of events but make them standouts so that everyone wants to attend. Make them in locations at the right time of year to get good waves and the people will follow.

There is a lot of effort that goes into running a club and an event so in my eyes there is no point in having a number of different clubs all doing the same ground work for little return. Pull together your resources so that only 1 person has to apply for council permits, 1 person has to worry about safety etc.

At SUPWA we have sub committees for each event, meaning everyone takes their turn at organising and it isn't the same people loaded all the time. This also brings uniqueness to the event as it generally has something only that group of people has come up with.