Source: Martin Grose –Surfing Australia www.surfingaustralia.com

Winter down under
Australia has been experiencing some cold winter weather even for our standards but I have heard there have been some excellent waves on offer.

World Surfing Games
At the time of going to press, the team to represent Australia in Portugal has not been confirmed. An announcement regarding the team makeup will be released in the coming weeks.

Development
The National Talent Search Program (NTSP) continues around Australia. These camps are part of the development pathway for young Australian surfers where coaches from the Surfing Australia High Performance Centre (HPC) travel to some of the regional areas working with young surfers who are unable to access elite coaching locally. This program is continues to blossom thanks to the support of the Australian Sports Commission and Coastalwatch.

Club Q & A
Surfing Australia has just undertaken a nationwide survey of boardriding clubs to assess the current membership levels and issues affecting boardriding clubs. A strong club network and structure is the backbone for a strong development program for up and coming surfers. Information from this study will be released later this month.

Indigenous Surfing program and the Laureus Foundation
Earlier this year, the Laureus Foundation recognized the Indigenous Surfing program that has been operating in recent years. The Laureus Foundation made a generous donation of softboards and rashies to five indigenous programs to assist those communities to encourage more indigenous youth to take up surfing for health and activity benefits. The long term goal of these programs is to hopefully see some of these naturally talented kids competing and maybe reaching the elite events in the coming years.

State Junior Titles
State Junior Titles are underway across Australia with the National Junior Titles being held in Western Australia in December. The Australia Junior Team to contest the 2009 ISA World Junior Surfing Championship in Ecuador will be selected after this event.

To keep up to date with all the latest surf news from down under www.surfingaustralia.com

See you next month

Martin Grose
Surfing Australia National Development Manager

About International Surfing Association
The International Surfing Association (ISA) is recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) as the World Governing Authority for surfing, bodyboarding and surfriding. It was originally founded as the International Surfing Federation in 1964 and has been running world championships since 1964 and the Junior World Championships since 1980. 

ISA membership includes the surfing National Governing Bodies (NGBs) of over 50 countries on six continents. Its headquarters are located in San Diego, California. It is presided by Fernando Aguerre, first elected in 1994 in Rio, and re-elected six times since.  The ISA's four Vice Presidents are Alan Atkins (Australia), Robin de Kock (South Africa), Maile Aguerre (Hawaii) and Mike Gerard (USA).

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