Hey red thanks for posting the results
Congratulations to the lads for making the finals.
Sorry in advance to our American friends as alot of what is to follow is concerned with a few Australian matters.
Interesting(and fair) comments by Red about the pros and cons of Surfing Australia contests as opposed to KSA run events.
Before i say anything i'd like to mention that i totally agree that the dollar value of the KSA contests is good and i also agree that anyone who volunteers their time to run these things is a legend. So what i have to say isn"t designed to upset anyone.Think of me as an avid fan of the kneeboarding medium.
First off i'd like to discuss the way in which our state reps are to be decided in future.(as explained on the KSA site).
The concern of this new ruling is that it is going to put a stop to surfers coming out of the woodwork and blowing up in their regional titles. Thus earning their right to a position in the state competition.
In the NSW titles this year one of the finalists had barely ridden a kneeboard for twenty years and did very well.He beat former Aussie champs and world champs along the way,so he didn't just get lucky.
I reckon thats bloody excellent! We should welcome that kind of ability back into the fold, not create rules to lock it out.
Now i understand that it has always been KSA strategy to have some kind of control over who does or does not enter external/prestige events.the reasoning being that it will bolster numbers in its own sanctioned contests.Not an entirely bad idea.But realistically the numbers in the contests seem much the same as they were through the late 80's/early 90's. So i do wonder if that "control strategy " is very effective.
Another thing lost under the new state selection ruling is the opportunity for kneeboarders to be judged by a body that is completely impartial to any politcs that way or may not exist inside the kneeboarding realm. Dedication,time and travel put in by a competitor is irrelevent in these contests.A decision made purely on what goes on during a heat.
In terms of entry money for the Aussie titles, were the kneelos charged any more than anyone else?
I just question the wisdom of seperating ourselves from our surfing brothers, it may well further alienate us. Besides when are kneeboard contests ever going to be held in locations like Margaret River, Bells Beach, Snapper or Jakes point (as the Aussie titles have been)?
Makes it almost worth the entry to surf some of those spots with 4 blokes out.(ok Bells is crap but Winki is always an option
)
I apologise if anyone is upset by me airing these thoughts publicly on a foriegn website. But there is no forum to do so within Australia. Being a public issue, it really is best it's discussed in public
for Klingon and the boys. Big hearts, generous souls.
