Surf’s up! Participation Regimes and Motivations for Surfing in Wales Jon Anderson Katie Jones June 2008
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- 3.6 Student socio-demographics
3.5 Types of surf training providedThe majority of surf schools interviewed provided Beginner and Intermediate or Improver surf training. Only 3 surf schools state on their websites that they provide advanced surf training. One of these schools, located in Pembrokeshire provides BSA instructor training courses and accreditation as detailed above. Across the schools, a typical Beginner surf lesson lasts for about two hours, although day-long sessions for are not uncommon. On average, the cost of a two hour lesson is between £20 and £30. A surf board and equipment such as a wetsuit is provided for each pupil. By means of illustration, the following extract shows a typical first lesson provided by the Welsh Surfing Federation Surf School: Case Study: Welsh Surfing Federation Surf School Typical first surfing lesson 9.30am – 10.00am Arrive at the surf school and meet your instructors- all British Surfing Association trained, and qualified beach lifeguards. What ever your size (child’s small to adults XXL and women’s 8 to 18) the fun starts straight away when you are shown how to get into your wetsuit. We've also got wetsuit boots for you. Then you’ll get your surfboard, specifically designed for learning to surf easily and safely. You will get shown the easy way to carry these big surfboards onto the beach. 10.00am – 10.30am At the waters edge pay attention - it’s time for the safety talk. Learn how to find out where and when to surf and how to safely fall off a surfboard. Next, learn the basics – lying on the board, paddling, catching a wave (but not standing up yet). You will do this on the sand first then it’s into the surf. Your instructors will give help, demonstration and encouragement the whole time. If you’ve surfed before you can miss the basics and go straight on to the more advanced stuff. 10.30am – 12.00am You’ve learnt the basics – now for the real thing! It’s time to walk on water. But hold on, let’s do it on the sand first – its easier. Jumping up to the surfing stance is the tricky bit, but with lots of demonstrations and determination you’ll get it right. Back into the sea for the rest of the morning to practice and laugh at everyone falling off. 12.00pm – 1.30pm Stop for lunch. 1.30pm – 2.00pm Meet again at the surf school and head back to the surf.2.00pm – 4.00pm A quick recap on the beach and then back into the water for more fun. When you are ready you will be taught how to sit on your surfboard, paddle through waves, turn and catch an unbroken wave, switch foot surfing and headstands. 4.00pm – 4.30pm Back to the surf school to return the equipment. This is a good time to ask questions about buying equipment and booking further lessons. (Source: WSF surf school website) 3.6 Student socio-demographicsAs part of the investigation into formal surfing practices in Wales, the project explored the range of people who were participating in surf training. In order to do this data was collected from surf schools’ websites and through interviews with surf school representatives about the socio-demographics of their students. Research revealed that the minimum age for participating in a surf lesson ranged between 8 and 12 years old. In addition to the minimum age requirements a student must also be able to swim 50 metres in a swimming pool before being allowed to have a surf lesson. It seems there is no average age group seeking surf lessons as all surf schools reported varying age groups, from school-aged children on school trips or holidays with their parents, to young adults participating in stag and hen weekends, or middle-aged tourists with an interest in trying out the activity. As one surf school comments on its website: "A typical lesson might include young children whose parents want them to learn in a safe and closely supervised way, super keen teenage boys or girls who want to become surfers as quickly as possible, some university students who want a fun packed activity weekend, professional people who have always fancied the sport but don't have time to hire a board and try to teach themselves, people who have been bought a surfing lesson for their 40th, 50th, 60th birthdays. Often we get lessons with family groups with all of the above types of people. We have also taught many school, scout and youth groups as well as adult parties including (sober) stag and hen parties." (Welsh Surfing Federation Surf School Website) The majority of surf schools interviewed reported a fairly even numbers of males and females undertaking surfing lessons. While historically, surfing has been seen as a male-orientated sport, many surf schools reported that more females are now taking an interest and becoming involved in the sport. "Surfing is often considered to be a sport for young males but we find no one gender or age group to be prevalent in our customers." (Welsh Surfing Federation Surf School Website) However, some schools did estimate that slightly more females than males sought lessons: “Fifty-fifty if not heading more to the ladies almost … Yeah, blokes are probably a bit more arrogant, probably happy to just hire a board and have a go themselves. Ladies tend to be a bit more open to tuition.” (Surf School, North Wales) Interviews with surf schools revealed that class or social background was not a significant factor amongst those seeking surf training. As the following interview extract with one surf school demonstrates: “It’s across the board really. I mean they only need to be able to afford the lesson which is a basic requirement. I mean we do do subsidised stuff when we can. And we do stuff for councils and for young offenders groups and stuff. So there’s opportunities there for people with no money really. I’d say there’s quite a mix really. You do get your very “well to do” coming down here in the summer and asking for lessons for all of their kids for a week. And you kind of more of a babysitting service for them to be honest. They tend to just want to have a free holiday themselves. No, no it’s quite across the board. And I don’t think there are more working class than middle really.” (Surf School, mid Wales) All surf schools interviewed reported that the majority of their students come from across the UK, and are often tourists or visitors, rather than being based in the local area. This highlights the seasonality of surfing practices from a business perspective, whereby surf schools rely on an influx of tourists during the summer months. Surf training requirements are greatest and most intense for the summer period then quieter for the rest of the year. However, student numbers varied dramatically between schools, depending on the size and nature of their business. Given surf training generally caters for tourists, it is unsurprising that the beaches used for training purposes are close to popular tourist resorts with wave conditions suitable for beginners. As one surf school representative comments about Rhossili Bay in the Gower, South Wales: “Rhossili Bay is an ideal place to learn and develop your surfing ability. It picks up all of the Atlantic swell and, because of its gently sloping beach it provides long waves capable of being ridden for a hundred meters or more. Because of this the Welsh Surfing Federation Surf School can run in most surf conditions. Its 3 miles length thins any crowd and the atmosphere is very relaxed with a ‘surf scene’ far less geared to the competitive surfer than at some surf spots. The beach is very popular with people learning and improving their surfing so there are always others of your standard around” (WSF surf school website). Surf school representatives were asked about the provision of, and need for facilities at the beaches they use for surf training. The main facilities that surf schools think there is a greater need to be provided include:
“The local council don’t really appreciate, you know the benefit, if you like, of the geographical location here and you know, there’s actually already a problem there. …I’ll give you an example, there’s sixteen car parking spaces at the beach where we teach, where we run our surf lessons, and in the summer everybody parks all over the place, on the side of the road, you know. It just makes it a disaster. The problems already there but the council just don’t acknowledge it” (Surf School, North Wales)
“For us…we would like for there to be showers. You know, we would like there to be some sort of facility near the beach that would help to accommodate our groups and make the sessions run smoothly. But these are one off people you know. We deal with youngsters. They’re just tasting surfing for the first time and hopefully… I mean they probably won’t learn too much. They probably won’t take it too seriously you know, it’s supposed to be fun. It would always be nice if there are nice areas to change. We do end up with young people getting changed in car parks hiding behind minibuses. ... And with young ladies and the way things are getting now. It’s getting increasingly hard to be a bit kind of rough and ready with young people. You know, they do need to have high levels of privacy I think. So that’s become a bit of an issue.” (Outdoor Activity Provider, South Wales) 3.7 The financial viability of surf schools Due to the popularity of tourists wanting to surf on their holidays, all the surf schools interviewed said their businesses were financially viable. The main overheads surf schools have include:
However, given the seasonality of the work surf schools had to come up with alternative means of increasing their revenue or lowering their overheads, as the case study examples below demonstrate: Case Study: Mobile surf school One surf school operated as a mobile school, which enabled the owner to target specific areas in which surf training was required and to access beaches with the most suitable surf conditions required for that day’s training. Despite increasing fuel costs, his mobile operation meant he had lower overheads that if he had an office space open to the public: “But basically the people that require teaching are spread out. So if we were based in Aberystwyth then we would probably predominantly just teach in Borth. But because I’m quite centrally I’m lucky enough to be equal distance between both. And we often, depending upon the time and the season, we have contracts with Aberystwyth University with the surf club and we do a youth scheme and that sort of stuff a lot of that is in North Ceredigion. And then you’ll often you’ll find at holiday time, people come down for holidays in Pembrokeshire, so they know me as the local surf school and they’ll contact me to meet them there for surf lessons. So it’s all down to businesses more than anything.” (Surf School, mid Wales) Case study: surf trips abroad Several schools had plans to expand their businesses through creating their own brand of merchandise, expanding their range of training and providing surf trips abroad during the winter season. Welsh surfing is going continental, as one surf school commentates: “We do foreign trips now in the winter. Purely because the temperatures are just too cold in Wales to teach beginners in anyway. The advanced, the ones who want to train for competitions and the serious surfers; they surf all year round anyway. So we teach them. But they’re quite a minority these days … We go to Morocco predominantly. We tried various places to start off with, Ireland, France. But Morocco was financially the most viable. And one of the best destinations for us from an area point of view geographically, the people, the costs, the expenses over there are minimal, bearing in mind it’s a third world country. And just the people out there. It’s a lot more appealing taking someone to a 35 C temperature and 23 C water temperature climate, where it’s a warm climate in January. As opposed to Ireland where it’s the same as here … So we can make more money strangely going to Morocco than we can in Ireland.” (Surf School, mid Wales) 3.8 Surf training from the perspective of questionnaire respondents In addition to the perspectives of representatives from surf schools, this section presents findings from the web-based questionnaire relating to surf training that surfers across Wales may have experienced. Despite tourists being the predominant market, out of all 134 questionnaire respondents, 50 (37.6%) had received some formal training or surf lessons. Out of these 50 respondents, 66% had undertaken Beginner level training, 14% had undertaken Intermediate level training and 20% had undertaken Advanced level training. It is expected that the majority of respondents would have undertaken Beginner level training, and we would expect fewer people to have undertaken Advanced level training given that there are fewer schools providing this level of coaching. Questionnaire respondents were asked to rate the provision of surf training in their region as poor, adequate or good. As Figure Xi indicates, from those respondents who answered the question, most people in North Wales, West Wales and South Wales thought the level of training provision in their region was ‘good’. 40% of west Walians who answered the question said they rated the level of training in their region as ‘good’. Equivalent percentages exist for North Wales and South Wales but the ‘n’ is lower. The results for South Wales and West Wales are not surprising, given that this is where the majority of surf schools are located.
Figure 3.1 Level of surf training in each region 3.9 Benefits of surf training Through interviews it was found that the benefits of surf training can be summarised as:
“We’ve all been beginners but its just trying to find a bit of space and not going in when the tides really high and the surfs, you know knowing the right part of the beach to go in as a beginner. If they do come to surf lessons then they do get to find that out but a lot of people just learn with their friend and that sort of thing.” (Surfer, South West Wales) The importance of being safe when surfing, particularly through a good understanding and demonstration of surf etiquette is a point that will be returned to in Chapter Four, where we will be looking at conflicts that arise between surfers. 3.10 Tensions surrounding surf schools Despite the benefits listed above, some interviewees felt several tensions existed about surf schools: some felt they created overcrowding at certain beaches; others questioned the actual need for surf tuition. Throughout the research it appears there exists a ‘double edge sword’ about encouraging greater participation in surfing and the potential problems that can occur from having too many people competing for space in one area. “In Newquay alone there is something like 25 surf schools. The Gower is not that bad. There is 1, 2, 3 I think- there is only 1 in Pembroke but you imagine what it is like on Saturday afternoon in the middle of summer when there is decent waves- imagine all of them surf schools trying to teach people with the normal amount of surfers, and this is why… surfers do get annoyed” (Surfer, South Wales) “It’s a bit of a double-edged blade doing what I do, to be honest. Because I’m a local surfer, I like the beach I’m at. But I’m working on the principle of getting people out in the sea. And so, I mean, I don’t teach where I surf at all, ever. I teach on large beaches which always have a large population of surfers where it’s not an issue for me to be teaching there basically. I mean, if you go to Freshwater West or Newgale, a beach that is sort of quite long, it can cope with a lot of people. My beach is 200 metres long. Yeah, so if there’s good swell, there. Or if you’re on high tide, it narrows down to about 50 metres wide. So you can’t teach and you don’t really want to develop those areas shall we say.” (Surf School, South West Wales) The above points highlight the need for an understanding of beach capacity, and potentially the need for permits to regulate surf training along certain beaches where overcrowding can be a problem. This is particularly salient during the peak summer months when there are an increased number of tourists in the area seeking surf tuition, alongside more experienced surfers all competing for space. Such instances generate the potential for increased collisions in the water, and once again emphasise the important role surf training can play in teaching basic surf etiquette. This chapter has focussed on formal participation in surfing through examining the role of surf schools in Wales. The chapter begin with a typology of surf training providers in Wales, as identified through literature and web-based searches. It then went on to explore owner’s motivations for establishing surf schools, and the regulation of surf schools and surf coaches by the BSA. Although the BSA provides four levels of surf school accreditation, it is not a requirement that all surf schools must be affiliated to the organisation. This poses the question about the regulation of surf schools in general. However all schools interviewed took health and safety and risk assessment procedures seriously and viewed them as a fundamental part of their business. The majority of surf schools reported problems in terms of recruiting and retaining good quality coaching staff, mainly due to the seasonality of the work and time and costs involved with obtaining qualifications. The majority of surf schools provided training at the beginner or intermediate level, few organisations provided more advanced level training, or training for coaching and judging qualifications – these are more readily available outside of Wales. In terms of the people requiring surf training, there appeared to be no average age group or gender. The minimum age for receiving a surf lesson was between 8 and 12 years old. However, all surf schools reported that the majority of their students come from across the UK and are tourists / visitors rather than being based in the local area. For this reason, beaches used for surf training are close to popular tourist resorts, with wave conditions suitable for beginners. However, the surf schools feel facilities such as car parking spaces, showers and toilet blocks could be provided at more beach locations. Due to the popularity of tourists wanting to surf on their holidays, all the surf schools interviewed were financially viable. However, there is a seasonality to the work with demand for lessons being highest during the summer months (May-September). As a way of generating more revenue, one surf school was now running surf trips abroad during the winter months. In addition, to reduce overheads, several schools operated as ‘mobile surf schools’, having no fixed base but instead ‘floated’ between beaches depending on demand and weather conditions. The benefits of surf training reported by both schools and surfers themselves include making beginners aware of health and safety when surfing, teaching basic surf etiquette and for improving confidence and technique. Despite these benefits, some tensions did surround surf schools in terms of them creating overcrowding at certain beaches, which potentially leads to conflicts. These will be explored more thoroughly in the next chapter. Chapter Four now goes on to look at informal surfing practices in Wales through an exploration of the views and opinions of individual surfers themselves. 4. Surfers in Wales The previous chapters have investigated formal surfing practices through surf clubs and surf schools, this chapter will now move on to explore informal surfing practices by exploring participation regimes and motivations amongst surfers themselves. The results included in this chapter are based on 134 responses to the web-based questionnaire detailed in Chapter One and further supplemented with key quotations from interviews with surfers. The chapter begins by exploring the socio-demographics of those who surf in Wales through an analysis of the personal information provided by questionnaire respondents. It then moves on to explore participation regimes at the most popular, and most frequently visited beaches in Wales. Favoured beach qualities are explored, alongside a consideration of the facilities surfers feel are lacking at surfing beaches. Given the importance of coastal zones as mixed used areas, potential conflicts between surfers and other beach users are explored. The chapter then explores the role of surfing communities, at the local, national and international levels, paying particular attention to how the Internet has revolutionised surfing practices over recent years. Finally the chapter considers surfer’s motivations for participating in the activity. 4.1 Disseminating the web-based questionnaire As detailed in Chapter One a web-based questionnaire was designed in order to communicate the research to as many people who surf in Wales as possible. In the first instance, the questionnaire web address was sent to representatives in surf schools and surf clubs as would occur with a postal survey. In addition however, it was possible to disseminate the questionnaire to more potential participants for whom a contact postal address was not known. This was achieved through asking surf clubs and surf schools to publicise the research through their email distribution lists; designing flyers and sending these to surf shops and other establishments connected with surfing e.g. accommodation sites, beach cafes etc; and posting the questionnaire web-address on various surf-related Internet message boards. Given the largely experimental nature of this research method, relying mainly on the generosity of people giving out flyers, word of mouth or participation in Internet based surfing communities, we included a question about how respondents came to access the research. From the options respondents were presented with, the most popular means people had come across the research was through Internet websites / message boards (n=56 or 43.1% respondents who answered the question). This result highlights a specific strength of this research in terms of accessing surfers who may not have been actively surfing during the period research was undertaken, but who are still actively participating in Internet communities. The second most popular means for accessing the questionnaire was through ‘friends of friends’ i.e. snowballing techniques and ‘other’ methods (for both answers n=33 or 25.4% respondents who answered the question). From those respondents who provided an answer for the ‘other’ section: 10 had picked up flyers in surf shops; 1 had picked up a flyer in a beach toilet block; 2 in a beach café and 1 had had a flyer attached to their car. Only a small minority of respondents (n=8 or 6.2% respondents who answered the question) reported having received the questionnaire through their local surf club. This result is perhaps not surprising given the problems relating to surf clubs outlined in Chapter Three i.e. their out of date contact details and periods of inactivity. 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