Surf’s up! Participation Regimes and Motivations for Surfing in Wales Jon Anderson Katie Jones June 2008
The socio-demographics of those who surf in Wales
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- Description N % 132
- Figure 4.1 Respondent definitions of their ethnic origin 1
- Colour n %
- Total 37 100% Figure 4.3 Respondent definitions of their ethnic origin 3
- Colour+nationality N %
- Total 30 100% Figure 4.4 Respondent definitions of their ethnic origin 4
- Status N % of 133
- Figure 4.5 Respondents’ professional status
- Region N % of 133
- Totals 133 100 Figure 4.6 Location of respondents 1
- Country N % 133
- Totals 133 100 Figure 4.7 Location of respondents 2
- Country/region N % 133
- Totals 133 100 Figure 4.8 Location of respondents 3
- No of years surfing N %
- Total 134 100
4.2 The socio-demographics of those who surf in Wales In order to gain a picture of informal surfing practices in Wales, we wanted to find out about the range of people who are participating in surfing. To do this, respondents were asked to complete a series of questions about their socio-demographics. Through analysing this data it was found that the age of those respondents who surf in Wales ranged between 14 and 64 years old, the mean average being 30.6. The data was then aggregated into categories to ascertain the number of respondents in their twenties, thirties, forties and so on. From this analysis it was found that the category with the most respondents was the 20-29 age group, who represented 41.8% of the total sample. This finding suggests that surfing is a sport principally undertaken by the relatively young. There were 15 respondents in the under 20 age category (11.2%); 38 respondents in the 30-39 age category (41.8%); 20 respondents in the 40-49 age category (14.9%); 3 respondents in the 50-59 age category (2.2%); and 2 respondents in the 60-69 age category (1.5%). Respondents were also asked about their gender. Through analysing the results it was found that significantly more males (82.8%) than females (17.2%) completed the questionnaire. Whilst these results are perhaps not surprising, given that surfing has traditionally been viewed as a male-dominated sport, during interviews with surf clubs, surf school and surfers, participants suggested that the number of females participating in surfing is increasing. We can assume therefore that the 17.2% figure is on the rise and may be different if the research had been undertaken at a different time of year when it is anticipated that more female surf tourists would be participating in the activity. In order to obtain a picture of the ethnicity of those who surf in Wales, respondents were asked to self-define their ethnic origin. As the table below demonstrates 132 out of 134 respondents actually completed this question. From the 132 respondents that provided an answer 49.2% defined themselves by their nationality, 28% by their colour and 22.7% by both nationality and colour. 95 people defined themselves by their nationality, from these: 54.7% were British; 27.4% were Welsh; 7.4% were English; 3.2% ‘UK’; 2.1% European or Cornish; and 1.1% Celtic, Irish or Chinese. 67 respondents defined themselves by their colour, from these 91% were white; 4.5% Caucasian and 4.5% mixed race. Further details are outlined in the tables below.
Figure 4.1 Respondent definitions of their ethnic origin 1
Figure 4.2 Respondent definitions of their ethnic origin 2
Figure 4.3 Respondent definitions of their ethnic origin 3
Figure 4.4 Respondent definitions of their ethnic origin 4 These results are fairly representative of the population of Wales as a whole given that the principality has a predominantly white population. It is expected that some ‘English’ respondents would be included who may be living in Wales, and given that the questionnaire was publicised outside of Wales through Internet sites, and also due to the number of surfers who commute to Wales from nearby towns and cities in England to surf. The respondents were also asked about their professional status. 133 out of 134 respondents answered this question. As demonstrated in the table below, out of these 133 respondents, 72.2% were in full time employment, 4.5% were self-employed, 18.8% were students, 3.0% unemployed and 1.5% were retired.
Figure 4.5 Respondents’ professional status In order to obtain a ‘geography of surfers’ respondents were asked to provide their own postcode data. This data was then analysed, using the first two letters of each postcode, to determine which regions surfers lived in. In total 133 out of 134 respondents provided an answer to this question. As the table below demonstrates, from these 133 respondents, West Wales has the highest number of respondents (41.4%), closely followed by South Wales (36.1%). This is not surprising given the popularity of surfing in these areas, and presence of surfing shops and schools able to publicise the questionnaire on our behalf. These were also the areas that were directly targeted, in person by one of the researchers, with flyers advertising the research and the online questionnaire address. It is anticipated that surfers in other regions came to know about the research either through visiting these areas or via surfing websites where the research has been publicised. As tables 4.6-4.8 demonstrate, the majority of respondents (85%) are based in Wales. This is unsurprising given the nature of the study and the time of year it was carried out. If the questionnaire had been publicised more during summer months amongst surf tourists, the non-Wales figure could potentially be higher.
Figure 4.6 Location of respondents 1
Figure 4.7 Location of respondents 2
Figure 4.8 Location of respondents 3 4.3 The surfing biographies of those who surf in Wales This section details findings about each respondent’s surfing biography i.e. the length of time they had been surfing for and their surfing ability. Surfers were given a series of options and asked to tick how long they had been surfing for. When these results were analysed we can see that the highest proportion of respondents had been surfing for between 5 and 10 years (23.1%); closely followed by 17.9% of respondents who had been surfing for between 11 and 15 years. Only 5.2% of respondents had been surfing for less than a year or 4.5% for under one year. 11.9% of respondents had been surfing for over 25 years. Surfing is a relatively new sport for the mainstream, however, as these figures demonstrate there is clearly a hardcore of people who have been doing the activity for a long time. Again these findings perhaps reflect the time of year in which the research was carried out. If the research had been undertaken during the summer months, the number of ‘beginner’ surfers may be higher. Given the long surfing biographies and experience of many of the respondents, this perhaps contributes a degree of authority to the results that follow.
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