Rebranded governing body heralds bright new dawn for surfing in Britain

An article by howard    No Comments

It has been a forgettable week of surf in the Westcountry but, as we go into the weekend, it is feeling a bit like spring.
Half-term has meant there have been plenty of surfers driving their families around to beaches, hoping that they might accidently stumble across some glassy waves.

But, since last Saturday, when the last of the swell gave us a clean two-foot wave to play in on the north coast, the conditions have been pretty shocking, leaving holidaying surfers landlocked.

There has been some good news for British surfers this week, with a new board of directors formally announced for the rebranded Surfing Great Britain (SGB), the governing body for surfing in the UK, heralding a new dawn for British surfing.

Their aspirations are not only to invigorate, inspire and connect with the British surfing population, with the aim of increasing participation across all age and ability levels throughout the country, but also to produce a British world title contender within the next ten years through performance development strategies.

Leading the charge is the new SGB chairman, former British and European champion Nigel Semmens, from Newquay. “While we have a massive amount of surfing talent in this country, male and female, we haven’t had someone competing internationally for a number of years,” he said. “To reach the same level as someone like Kelly Slater, we need to have a more structured approach which puts a premium on top-quality coaching and commitment, and which seeks and obtains sponsorship that reflects the massive interest in surfing in Britain.”

The last British representative to compete on the World Tour was Russell Winter, from Newquay, whose performances a decade ago met with serious acclaim from surfing professionals from the sport’s traditional hotbeds of Hawaii, Australia and California.

SGB’s new board of directors will also be actively looking to make surfing more socially inclusive – working at grass-roots level, supporting local clubs and schools throughout the UK and developing surfing within the PE curriculum where possible.

Well-known surfing journalist and author of Surf Nation, Alex Wade, who has also helped in the reshaping of the new body said. “There is tremendous energy and excitement behind SGB as it seeks to push British surfing forward to the next level,” he said.

“SGB will be looking after the interests not just of the elite surfers who are good enough to turn pro but everyone in Britain – from Thurso to Brighton, Tynemouth to Swansea and Portrush to Perranporth – who loves to ride waves.

“There is tangible good news already, too. We have landed a European contract from the NEA2 Project which will go towards the development of a national governing body.”

So, fantastic news for the sport which we love, but unfortunately even the new board of directors at SGB will not be able to make the surf forecast for next week look any better, with strong south-westerly winds with us most days.

However, there might be enough swell towards the second half of next week to push into those spots that are sheltered from those winds.

Information source: This is Cornwall