Welcome to the spring edition of Surfing Australia’s
magazine. There is a remarkable amount of activity to
report on as we continue to strive towards creating a
healthier and happier Australia through experiencing the
joy of surfing for life.
Welcome to the Surfing Australia magazine for spring
2015. There has been a changing of the guard with our long
standing Chairman Norm Innis retiring after over a decade
of service and our new Chair Layne Beachley stepping up
to guide Surfing Australia to new heights in coming years.
As the first former female World Champion to be appointed
Chair of any National Sporting Organisation, I am filled with
anticipation and I wish to take this opportunity to express my
sincere appreciation and gratitude to our retiring Chairman
Norm Innis. His passion for the sport, coupled with his business
acumen and foresight has enabled me to inherit an impressive
skilful board and a flourishing organisation with tremendous
potential at a very exciting time.
The Olympic dream is a step closer after the IOC announced
that surfing had been nominated for inclusion into the 2020
Japan Olympics. This is an absolute game changer for the
sport and for our organisation should the dream become a
reality.
Talk of Olympic inclusion into the 2020 Tokyo games is on
everybody’s lips and we are extremely confident of this
dream becoming a reality, with the official announcement
scheduled at the start of the Rio Olympic Games in 2016. The
President of the ISA, Fernando Aguerre has committed the
last 20 years of his life to the accomplishment of this goal and
we are enormously indebted to him for his relentless pursuit
of surfing becoming an official Olympic sport.
The recent successful launch of our world class AIS Aerial Surf
Skate Training Facility will provide our athletes and aspiring
world champions with a distinct advantage to hone their
aerial skills in a safe and controlled environment while pushing
the boundaries of the sport. We are committed to being at the
forefront of competitive innovation and we sincerely value the
support of our partners including Hurley and the AIS.
We are excited to welcome Weet-Bix as the new naming
rights partner of our tremendously successful SurfGroms
program, with registrations now open through the Surfing
Australia Surf Schools Network.
Surfing has meritoriously established itself as one the world’s
most enviable lifestyles and professions, largely due to its
alluring nature and inclusive culture. Surfing Australia’s digital
team has done a remarkable job of capturing the essence
of this inspiring lifestyle, always delivering amazing content
across all our digital and social platforms.
I want to thank all of our partners, state members, CEO
Andrew Stark and all of the dedicated staff members at
Surfing Australia for their hard work and commitment to
ensuring our long-term success.
In sync with the Olympic announcement we opened a brand
new world’s first AIS aerial surfing specific skate ramp at the
Hurley Surfing Australia High Performance Centre designed
to ensure Australian surfers are flying high and winning world
titles for many years to come. This facility may contribute to
also winning Olympic Gold in 2020.
We were incredibly pleased to announce our newest major
partner in Weet-Bix who has secured the long term naming
rights partnership of Weet-Bix SurfGroms, our flagship
national junior program that has seen over 40,000 5-12 year
old kids engage in the sport over the past 4 year 2