Mo Money, No Problems?

Words: Mark Rosenberg

Micktory in Hawaii. Pic Talon

For quite some time Australia has sat atop the surfing totem poll. But alas, our superiority has bred a green-eyed monster, causing our foreign rivals to up the ante. International efforts in developing surfing are starting to be realized, causing the Australian government to pledge two million dollars to stay atop the game, but is it too late? Have the others caught up? Or maybe even surpassed us?

The money pledged by Minister for Sport, the Hon, Kate Ellis, will go toward building a high performance training facility at Surfing Australia’s current Casuarina site. Regardless of the result of the election, the project has been green lighted. Tony Abbot and Julia Gilliard were both unavailable for comment, but sources have confirmed unanimous bipartisan “stoke.”

“The new High Performance Centre for Surfing at Casuarina will not only be the centre of excellence for the sport in Australia, but it will be the leading facility of its kind around the globe,” said Surfing Australia chairman, Norm Innis. “As such it should cement Australia’s “World No. 1” position for surfing performance.” As of 2010 Australia holds the number one position in the upper echelons of wave riding. Granted Kelly Slater and Andy Irons have won the majority of titles in the last decade, but the likes of the Coolie kids, Taj Burrow and Bede Durbidge have scored silverware and novelty size cheques galore. Ask anyone who’s the dominant nation in top tier surfing; the resounding response is Australia.


Some bronzed Aussies claim ISA gold.

Despite this, further down the ranks our dominance is being challenged. Cast an eye over the Australian and international junior rankings. USA: Kolohe Andino, Andrew Doheny, Nat Young, Conner Coffin and the rest. Europe: Maxime Huscenot, Brazil: Gab ‘Funky Cold’ Medina and a slew of other funnily named kids slated for stardom. Australia’s list still packs some punch, and yeah we won the 2010 ISA games in New Zealand, but if media buzz and contest results are any indicator, Australia may soon be knocked off it’s high performance perch.

“This new venture is all about continuing to dominate international surfing and providing the youth of Australia with every opportunity to become better surfers and world champions,” said Andrew Stark, Surfing Australia CEO, to ASL. “We watch what other countries are doing and also what other sports are doing. Surfing Australia is constantly assessing the international training and coaching landscape to ensure we are ahead of the pack.”

“The training facility will boast world-class education facilities, administration offices as well as treatment and conditioning rooms. This would be combined with skilled coaches and cutting-edge sports science sports medicine services. Elite surfers and coaches would not only have state of the art facilities at their fingertips but also have access to specialist programs and the facility’s extensive resources,” reads the Surfing Australia press release. But what does all this actually mean? How can a land based performance centre trump the ocean as a training ground? Look at Australia’s most recent two times world champion, Mick Fanning, a surfer who encapsulates the notion of surfers as athletes. Mick’s rigorous training regime is well documented and testament to the fact a complete approach is needed. Even serial partiers like Taj Burrow have employed a total body approach. It works, they win heats, often, and with ease.

So is the centre a kneejerk reaction to Australia’s dominance being threatened by our rivals? “Absolutely not,” says Stark, “this facility is about being proactive to ensure we are ahead of the world in the sport’s development and continue to dominate on the world stage. Those countries might react to our proactive vision for this facility though.

It’s undeniable that other nations are hot on Australia’s tails in terms of surf development programs. Fortunately the government has realised that surfing is one of our nation’s key sports, and with their help, and the progressive approach taken by Surfing Australia, it’s likely that we’ll keep the wolves at the door for a while yet. Make no mistake though; the rest of the world is no longer playing catch up.