Surfing and Welsh and local identities

This section raises some issues regarding the relationship between surfing and Welsh identity, or more specifically local identities. The importance of Welsh identity and Wales’ surfing heritage was commented upon by several participants.

In addition the importance of local areas, identities and communities were also talked about by one participant, especially when he was questioned about the potential of the Internet replacing or eroding the need for local support groups:

This chapter has detailed some of the additional themes that arose from the research. The purpose of the next chapter is to collate the main findings and conclusions from the project, address its limitations, suggest recommendations to the Sports Council for Wales and finally set out avenues for future research projects.

The research found that the life of a surf club tends to evolve through ‘peaks and troughs’ or phases of (in)activity, mainly due to the time consuming administrative and organisational skills required in running a club. However, in areas where surf clubs exist and are active, they play an important role in promoting and encouraging participation in surfing in local areas. According to the BSA, just 3 surf clubs in Wales are currently affiliated to the organisation, thus benefiting from the skills, advice and most notably insurance that they provide. At the regional level, the WSF is responsible for promoting surfing in Wales through the provision of coaching training and organisation of surfing competitions amongst clubs. The research revealed the most significant benefits surf clubs provide for their members include insurance (through affiliation to the BSA) and social links. Two case study examples of good practice were presented from clubs who actively encourage females and young people to participate in surfing, a traditionally male dominated sport. Interviews with surf clubs revealed that they have relatively few overheads but still require some finances to organise and subsidise activities such as trips, competitions, equipment and social events. Clubs mainly rely on membership subscriptions, although some run their own fund raising activities or had managed to secure funding from local/private companies. It was suggested that limited funding is available from non-corporate sources, however this is often associated with complicated administrative tasks.

21 surf schools were identified across Wales ranging from regular surf schools attached to a surf shop, multi-water-sports training providers, and outdoor activity centres. 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.

Surf schools described themselves as being relatively ‘self-sufficient’ in terms of them providing all the necessary equipment for students. However, in terms of facilities at beaches, surf schools identified a need for more car parking facilities and for shower and toilet blocks, especially for young children needing to get changed. In addition 68% of questionnaire respondents identified that there is not enough pollution monitoring at surf beaches across Wales. The potential therefore exists for the SCW, in association with other organisations such as The Environment Agency to implement pollution monitoring and clean water policies at beaches. Similarly, the provision of waste and recycling facilities was also identified as lacking at Welsh beaches by 63% of surfers. This is something the SCW could also address, in association with other organisations. Similar to the surf schools, over 40% of questionnaire respondents think there are not enough showers or sheltered areas at beach locations, something that the SCW and local authorities could seek to implement. 22% respondents felt there were not enough lifeguards at beaches, whilst this may not be a significant issue for more experienced surfers, the provision of lifeguards in areas used by beginner and intermediate surfers is an important issue.

Participation in surfing is undertaken by people from a range of different backgrounds. It is a sport enjoyed by a broad age range (from youngsters through to retirees). Although the sport has traditionally been dominated by males, it is becoming increasingly popular with females. The research found that more females than males are participating in surf training, and certain surf clubs are encouraging female members by organising ‘female only’ activities to encourage their participation and build confidence. Surfing is growing in popularity and accessibility (in part due to the Internet), which means it is no longer just people who live in coastal areas that are surfers. People are willing to travel from further a field to participate in the sport.

The research found that both the most popular beaches and the most frequently visited beaches spanned the Gower Peninsula, Porthcawl, South Wales and Pembrokeshire. The top 10 most popular beaches are: Llangennith; Porthcawl; Rhossili; Langland; Caswell; Freshwater West; Whitesands; Oxwich Bay; Gower Reefs; and Newgale. The top 10 most frequently visited beaches are: Llangennith; Porthcawl; Langland; Caswell; Gower Reefs; Rhossili; Llantwit Major; Rest Bay; Freshwater West; and Horton. While there is some degree of overlap between the most popular and most frequently visited beaches, these are the beaches that should be targeted in terms of facilities provision in order to ensure maximum impact.

According to questionnaire respondents, the most significant reasons for participating in surfing is to interact with the waves and the sea – it is a way of getting closer to nature. The second most important reason given was due to the social links and spirit of camaraderie that is achieved both in the water and on land through participation in local surfing clubs and groups and through other communities, even non-face-to-face communities on the Internet. For the majority of respondents interviewed, surfing was more than a hobby or a sport they ‘just did’; it was very much a way of life.

Given the nature of coastal areas as mixed used activity places, we wanted to explore the potential for, and nature of, conflicts between surfers and other beach users. It was found that while generally conflicts are minimal they originate due to overcrowding at beaches and other surfers or water sports lacking in their knowledge and use of surf etiquette. Conflicts could potentially be alleviated if the Sports Council for Wales, or other organisations, were to provide signage at beach areas detailing surf etiquette rules.

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  It has been widely acknowledged throughout this report that surfing comprises an important part of the Welsh landscape, making a significant contribution to local economies across coastal Wales. Many participants feel the Sports Council for Wales can play an active role in promoting the sport within Wales, especially in regard to encouraging participation amongst young people and in particular raising its profile as a recognised sport, such as football or rugby.
  

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  However there appears to be a fine line between encouraging participation in surfing and creating problems of overcrowding and competition at local beaches. The Sports Council for Wales should remain mindful of this tension. If areas are to sustain an influx of surf tourism, important measures have to be taken in order to ensure the safety and well being of all beach users.
  

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  Safety in the water when surfing has been an important concern of participants throughout the research. The Sports Council for Wales, in coalition with local authorities could help alert surfers and beach users to dangers through the use of appropriate signage detailing basic safety advice and surf etiquette. The figure below is taken from the British Surfing Association’s (BSA) website and provides a good example of an image using both visual and text techniques to demonstrate surf etiquette.
  

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  The report has also highlighted the lack of funding for surf clubs or schools to provide subsidised lessons for those in lower income brackets. The Sports Council for Wales could play a role in either allocating more funding to surfing themselves, or through identifying potential funding sources, removing many of the administrative tasks surf club committee members do not have time to do. However the resourcefulness of surf clubs and surf schools should not be overlooked, many are active in organising their own fundraising events, or finding alternative means of providing surf training for young people, for example through encouraging them to participate in beach cleaning activities in return for a free surf lesson. Such initiatives could be promoted as an example of good practice by the Sports Council to other surf schools across Wales.
  

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  In terms of facility provision, many research participants highlighted concerns they had for the safety of their belongings on shore when they were out surfing. The Sports Council for Wales could potentially work with local councils to provide locker facilities in beach areas to enable surfers to leave items such as car keys and wallets safely locked away. In addition, in environmental terms, respondents noted that pollution monitoring and the provision of waste and recycling facilities were lacking in beach areas, again this is something the SCW, in association with other agencies could seek to address.
  

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  This project has focused on participation in, and motivations for surfing in Wales. A larger scale research project could focus on other coastal surfing areas: Southern England, Scotland and Ireland in order to produce a surfing map of the UK. The same research framework and methods could be used to enable a comparative study to be completed. Given the increase in surf travel in recent years, there is also scope to include an international dimension to further studies.
  

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  This research has highlighted the need for more in depth evaluation of the role of surfing in the lives of young people. The report has begun to demonstrate the health and wider social effects of encouraging young people in surfing, and it would therefore be productive to undertake a further project to explore the benefits from the points of view of young people themselves. Those involved in competitive surfing, those ‘difficult to engage’ young people for whom surfing is a way of increasing confidence and self-esteem, and potentially children with disabilities.
  

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  In addition to this, the potential exists for future research projects to investigate further the health benefits of participating in surfing, especially in terms of occupational therapy and the healing power of water. It is anticipated that such research would be of interest to those in the medical professions and psychologists.
  

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  This research has looked at the perceived benefits that surfing can contribute to the local economy. A further quantitative study could be undertaken to obtain a statistic picture of the ‘economic footprint’ of surfing in Wales.
  

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  This research has focused on formal participation in surfing through surf clubs and surf schools. Something which has been relatively neglected within the research is the role of surfing competitions. Future research projects could engage more competitive aspects of surfing participation, at both the local and international level, in terms of the structure and nature of competitions, youth competitors, motivations for competing and participant sponsorship.
  

Alderson, A. (2000) Surfing UK 2^nd Edition Wiley and Sons: Chichester

Anderson, T. (2006) Riding the Magic Carpet: A Surfer’s Odyssey to Finding the Perfect Wave Summersdale Publishers: Chichester

Blair, L., Coxen, A., Goring, J. (eds) (2006) Wave Finder: UK and Ireland Hedonist Surf Company Ltd: location not given

Nelson, C. and Taylor, D. (2005) Footprint: Surfing Britain Footprint Handbooks: Bath

Wade, A (2007) Surf Nation: In Search of the Fast Lefts and Hollow Rights of Britain and Ireland Simon and Schuster: London

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  Alderson, A. (2008) Surfing UK: The Definitive Guide to Surfing in Britain 3^rd Edition Wiley and Sons: Chichester
  
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  Alderson, A. (2000) Surfing UK 2^nd Edition Wiley and Sons: Chichester
  
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  Anderson, T. (2006) Riding the Magic Carpet: A Surfer’s Odyssey to Finding the Perfect Wave Summersdale Publishers: Chichester
  
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  Blair, L., Coxen, A., Goring, J. (eds) (2006) Wave Finder: UK and Ireland Hedonist Surf Company Ltd: location not given
  
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  Nelson, C. and Taylor, D. (2005) Footprint: Surfing Britain Footprint Handbooks: Bath
  
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  Wade, A (2007) Surf Nation: In Search of the Fast Lefts and Hollow Rights of Britain and Ireland Simon and Schuster: London
  

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  British Surfing Association [www.britsurf.co.uk]
  
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    The BSA is the governing body for surfing in the UK. Its website provides lists of BSA approved surf schools, surf clubs and university surf clubs across the UK, as well as information about how to form a surf club.
    
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  Welsh Surfing Federation [www.goecities.com/Welshsurfing]
  
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    The WSF is the governing body for surfing in Wales. It is responsible for promoting the sport, organising competitions and participation in events to raise public awareness and for selecting teams to represent Wales at an international level. The website contains contact details for surf clubs in Wales.
    
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  BBC website [www.bbc.co.uk/wales/surfing]
  
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    This part of the website contains information and features about surfing in UK, and a specific section about surfing in Wales. This includes: ‘beach guides’ – descriptions, images and a ‘your comments’ section for readers to add their own experiences; ‘FAQ’ for learners about buying surfing equipment, surf etiquette and surf techniques; ‘Off the Lip’ a message board for readers to post comments on, describing itself as ‘laid back surf chat from around Wales’; surf cams around south Wales and daily surf reports; and details of surf schools in Wales
    
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  Surf directory [www.thesurfddirectory.co.uk]
  
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    Surf directory provides an online guide to the beaches of UK and Ireland. It contains local listings of surf schools, surf shops, accommodation near to beaches and other links to local services at beaches.
    
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  Facebook [www.facebook.com]
  
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    Facebook is a social networking site that connects people with friends and others who work, study and live around them. People can use Facebook to keep in touch with friends, upload an unlimited number of photographs and share links and videos. Through searching within the ‘Wales’ network using terms ‘surf’ and ‘surfing’, we were able to locate groups with an interest in surfing, surf schools and surf clubs.
    
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  Yellow pages [www.yell.com]
  
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    Yell.com is a local search engine providing access to classified business information including business websites, addresses and phone numbers. Using the terms ‘surf school’; ‘surf’; ‘surfing’; ‘water sports’; ‘outdoor activities’; ‘outdoor adventures’; ‘adventure activities’ we were able to identify several surf schools and activity centres providing surf training across Wales
    
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  Google [www.google.co.uk]
  
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    The search engine Google was used to identify surf schools and other providers of surf training in Wales, as well as surf clubs and other information about surfing literature and policy.
    

1. 
   Through taking part in a short telephone interview about your surf club/school – in terms of its membership profile, club structure, income generation and health and safety issues. The interview should last no longer than 15-20 minutes.
   

2. 
   We have devised a short web-based questionnaire that we would like to distribute amongst your members to help us with the Sports Council’s project. The questionnaire focuses on surfing locations; the provision of surfing facilities; surfing communities, clubs and training; and motivations for surfing. Participants would complete the questionnaire on-line and through pressing a ‘submit’ option it would be returned to us, thereby removing the need for postage. In order to distribute the questionnaire, perhaps it would be possible for you to forward the web-address and project details to your members via the club’s email distribution list? We appreciate that this is a time-consuming task, so if you would prefer to send us your members’ contact details/email addresses, we could contact them directly. We understand that contact details/email addresses are sensitive and would only use them for the purpose of questionnaire distribution, in line with the University’s Ethical Guidelines. In addition to your club/school members we would welcome it if you could pass on the questionnaire’s web address to anybody else who actively surfs in Wales. The questionnaire can be viewed at www.cardiff.ac.uk/cplan/research/surfing and should take no longer than 10 minutes to complete.
   

We realise the potentially sensitive nature of many issues we are exploring, therefore all the information collected will remain anonymous and confidential, and will be used solely for research purposes. I realise you probably have many commitments on your time so any co-operation you could offer us would be greatly appreciated.

Dr Katie Jones