Long gone are the days when being a surfer was
viewed as a bit of joke in terms of being a professional sportsperson.
Surfers are now elite athletes building brands and making careers out of
a lifestyle sport.
Surfing has transcended global borders and brings together a community of people who love what they do together in the water.
But what does all this mean for the sport?
Are there now too many people surfing? Many may argue yes and many may argue no.
The recent news of Billabong and their share price
plummeting might be a clear indicator that the days of the surf brand
that doesn’t stick to its roots and look after its core audience may
suffer the consequences.
Surfing like any sport has undergone a massive
transformation with the advancement of technology resulting in increased
levels of surfing performance and the ability to reach waves that were
previously unreachable.
Being a surfer is about being part of something and
identifying with the people that participate in that sport. Once you are
a surfer it is hard to ever go back and remember what it was like
before you became one.
Surfing has become more popular and the beaches have become
more crowded. If you are a surfer you want more waves and fewer crowds.
Even though this rings true for many it is still good to see
the number of people who have taken up a sport that offers so many
physical and mental benefits.
Globally there are an estimated 23 million surfers. In
Australia alone one in every 20 people surf and there are now over
400,000 annual surf school participants.
They are some staggering numbers when you think that surfing
could be taking over some of the mainstream sports in terms of
popularity and people engaging in them in Australia.
More people who surf results in more exposure for the sport and people pushing the sport to the next level.
If surfing doesn’t continue to be pushed and become more
popular the next wave of junior surfers coming through might not get the
exposure they need to take the sport to the next level.
Like anything it’s about encouraging the next wave of people
to continue to push the boundaries. Surfing has always been about being
different and pushing yourself and others.
As a community surfers need to continue to support each other so we can all participate in the sport that we love.
There are downsides to the rising popularity of surfing. The
more mainstream surfing becomes the more it can feel like the sport has
lost some of its soul that makes it so special.
On face value it is easy to think of surfing like this. It
has become corporate and sometimes it is about making money rather than
the actual surfing.
Think about the new destinations people are finding
everyday, the new waves that are being surfed and the new surfboards
that are being created.
Surfing still has that something special that makes it unique and not only a sport but a way of life.
Surfing may be becoming more popular but is that necessarily a bad thing?
