British surfing politics (groan)

When I was a lawyer, complete with an office, desk, my very own red pen and a secretary, I was quite happy plying my trade, save for two things: 1, the fact that my sundry legal jobs were all conducted miles from the sea, and 2, office politics. These two factors, along with a tendency to drink too much and become inappropriately amorous, ultimately conspired to render me unemployable.

Well, maybe that's putting it a bit high. But I certainly became a top quality Master of Disaster and engendered carnage of all kinds in my wake. Mercifully, that was then. Now I do all manner of different things for a living, even a little bit of law sometimes. I work in an office, but there is no one else in it, and that suits me just fine. You see, I'm rubbish at politics.

It was with unusual dismay, therefore, that I read Sharpy's post yesterday on Surf Photo. Sharpy writes of all manner of shenanigans involving the British Surfing Association and the impending 2008 Quiksilver ISA World Junior Surfing Championships. I know nothing, save that the BSA chairman, Karen Walton, lives near me in the far west, so she must be OK.

Actually, I do know something. I can discern that there's clearly an issue relating to the Quiksilver Juniors, to be held in and around Hossegor from 24 May to 1 June. If half the team are already in France, it seems odd to make them return to the UK, only to travel back to France again. But I don't know the full facts and can only suggest you read Sharpy's site for more.

Meanwhile, I confess that I know something else. I know that there have been some well-publicised disputes over the past couple of years among various UK surfing entities. Now for the reasons outlined above, I'm not one to get involved, and perhaps this will sound naive, but can someone tell me why on earth UK surfing is so politicised?

The photograph has absolutely nothing to do with this post save that it was the best of a poor bunch served up by a Google search of 'surfing and politics.' It appears courtesy of Chakra-Surfer.

Comments

[Phil Sweeney]

British surfing politics is a nightmare - as you know Alex! This story of the Juniors is typical.

[Sam]

I remember reading something recently about the board of the BSA being ousted with a vote of no confidence. I've checked out the BSA site but it's not detailed there. If Sharpy's piece is true then it's ridiculous and clearly some sort of power struggle going on which is interfering with the development of our up and coming talent.

[Sharpy]

No power struggle just people behaving like 8-year olds and not having the brain power to see they are being ridiculous.
Today has brought a final decision- the BSA are insisting that Tassy Swallow, Lewis Clinton, Josh Piper etc all fly back to the UK to get a bus back to where they came from in France. Joel Grey (him what's running the coaching week) tried all morning to get in touch with the BSA but got told that people were either on 'courses' or 'not in today'. So imagine their surprise when he wandered into the office to find everyone there... But even face to face they would not back down. So Idiocy 1- Common Sense 0. Turns out that 'Team Spirit' engendered by being stuck in a bus together for hours, is more important than performance and actually going through some rounds of the comp...

[alf alderson]

Seems to me all the politics is in Cornwall/competition surfing...

Stay in the backwaters and surf purely for pleasure and you can avoid it all.

Couldn't they just photoshop them in some promo stuff it that's what P&O/the BSA are worried about?

[Surfeit of Lampreys]

Cool Runnings meets the evacuation of Dunkirk! The spirit of British amateurism at its best. Perhaps I'm being naive here, but wouldn't it have been better for team bonding for the BSA to have arranged a training camp for the team themselves? Surely this Joel Grey guy should have run a camp for the whole team, not just a few stand outs? But having failed to make any arrangements for the team to get to the contest any earlier than the evening before it starts, why are the BSA penalising those kids who've made their own arrangements to get out there beforehand and put in some acclimatisation and preparation at their own expense? And typical of the BSA that whilst the kids are being made to fly back (again at their own expense) the best the BSA can do is subject them to a ferry and bus combo to get them back to where they started from 36 hours earlier. It's like the evacuation of Dunkirk in reverse.

[Sharpy]

Theres no stress with Brittany Ferries, the team is 12 kids+ 'management' (using that term very loosely), only 5 or so of them were gonna be down there early. As for Alfs comment- there should be a path for promising youngsters to develop. Pro surfing is a legitimate career these days. The BSAs remit as the National body is to help juniors develop. They should be doing this professionally and transparently not letting personal vendettas cloud their judgement. The next Russ Winter is gonna have trouble fighting through all this nonsense.

[surfwatch]

Thing is Sharpy, Russ Winter's big enough and ugly enough (no offence Russ) to fight for himself, these kids aren't. One of the team came into the BSA office yesterday to try to reason with Walton and got told that if he argued he'd be off the team. I know for a fact that she's threatened three of the Hossegor Five by now that if they open their mouths about this they'll never be picked for Britain again, and their 'contracts' gag them from speaking to the press other than to represent the BSA positively.

[Scally]

Bloody hell Alex man, for a minute I thought that bird in the pic was this Karen Walton lass demonstrating how to do a pop up. If she looks like that I wouldnt mind her sitting on my thruster in the back of a van for 24 hours, know what a mean? But they say Karen doesnt surf and has a face like Brims Ness. Maybe that's her problem. Karen love, whatever your hangups are don't take them out on other people. You need to chill out and remember this is the world surfing games not world domination.

[Seababe]

don't know full facts either but what's karen walton's appearance got to do with all this? sounds like sexism pure and simple to me!

[Jimmy Cosmo]

Notice you didn't complain about the guy who said Russ Winter was ugly, Seababe? (Seababe? How'd you unpack the semiotics of that then?) I think Scally was being ironic. ps that's nothing to do with ironing.

[Blakey]

Seems the BSA's idea of a coaching week is to get everybody on a coach for a week.

[Jez]

I've just picked this quote up from Karen Walton on the BSA's press release on the Surfers Village website: “With only a couple of weeks to go, the team coaches and managers will be working closely with all of the team to ensure that they are physically and psychologically ready for the championships and we’re looking forward to seeing them all in the water, and hopefully on the podium, representing our surfing nation.” As the team is apparently booked to come back on the ferry before the final day (a team spirit inducing vote of confidence there from the BSA), seeing one of our team on the podium might well first involve them having to come back to the UK before having to go back to France to surf in the final. How does any of this nonsense make them 'psychologically ready' for anything except counselling?

[alf alderson]

Just to follow up Sharpy's comments - I agree that promising youngsters who wish to compete should have a channel through which to do so (ideally one less fractious than the BSA), all I meant by my earlier remarks is that for those of us - and they are legion - who have no interest in surf contests or surf politics then the backwaters are the place to be.

Plus we get clean, green waves, offshore conditions and hot sunshine (yesterday and today) with just a handful of people out.

Beats any contest any day in my book!

[Sigh]

It's really not too late to salvage something here, both for the benefit of the young people concerned, and the reputation of British Surfing, but it probably requires that some form of sensible compromise is sought. Is the BSA up for that?
They'd certainly attract a great deal more respect at this stage if they were to stand down from an untenable position, and try to work with all concerned. What's to stop the people already in France just meeting up with the rest of their team-mates at an agreed point just north of Hossegor, say, so that everyone does the last hour of the journey together ? (There can be little chance of profitable last minute 'team-building' when the team members are all asleep on the Ferry in any case !!)
This just seems to be such a straightforward resolution, with no grief for anybody, that it seems to be a good direction, and highly desirable - please, can someone at the BSA perhaps reconsider, and take the team forward, onward and upward......?

[Worried-but-Hopeful]

Can someone just give us an assurance that freedom of choice will not be entirely stifled in the future ? There really is not just one way of fostering good training and development in the sport - there are many entirely valid approaches, and some will suit one young athlete, some another.
Of course sound team-building is essential, and it would certainly be good in this respect to have a consistent stable squad, but to imagine that individual team members will not have their own thoughts, opinions, and regimes would be unthinkable!
There is no issue here if everyone co-operates, however, and if priorities for individuals and the team can be arrived at through discussion and agreement, and the essential involvement of parents. Present difficulties could be avoided if people were listening to each other, not just dictating or reacting to 'edicts' accordingly.

There really is room for different approaches and choices to be accomodated - please, BSA, don't try to take away our rights in respect to exercising them.

[Luke]

I think its a shame that alot of the members on the team are there becasue of other reasons than there surfing, am i not right in saying that Cathleens father Ester Spears is part of the training squad? And by the looks of the surfing on the team there are others who surf much better, give evry one else a chance and drop the team if they argue... im with Karen.

[Kathleen Spears]

As a juniour going on the trip to the worlds, i was ignoreing all of this going on..... untill i got a phone call telling me about the above comment..... firstly luke, u dont have a clue, first thing is my name is spelt KATHLEEN not with a C!! my dad is not part of hte training squad and never has been when i have been on the squad. He got chucked out the BSA last year! I have worked so hard for my place on the team, i have ran bleep tests, i have attended every training possible. Ive worked hard and im really insulted about what you have written! Please, there is no resaon to bring me into this!!

[Simon Jayham]

Alex looks like you need to add a chapter to your book or write a new one on 'A surf nation's politics' I bet you would get plenty of support.

[Marc Davies]

Seems like BSA and Karen Walton need to get thier act together. How can such a shambolic organisation hold onto thier National Governing Body status with all that has gone on over the last year. I am writing to Sport England to complain, if you are annoyed by the continuous incompetance I suggest you do the same.