ADDRESS TO MEMBERSHIP
SURFING ASSOCIATION OF TRINIDAD AND
TOBAGO
By Keith Lewis.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The SATT has been fortunate to experience another
great year so far for 2008/2009. I would like to pay respect to the people who
have made this possible but devoting their time and effort to the progress of
Surfing in our country. Our executive
secretary Warren Rostant has spent long hours meticulously organizing and
coordinating the SATT functions and may as well be labeled “Operations Manager”
for role he plays in our organization.
Sharrard Spiers has continues to be very supportive
and resourceful in his role as Vice-President.
Likewise, Lee Quesnel, Mark de Verteuil, and more recently Ravin
Ramkisoon, have all contributed significantly to the steady progress the
association has continued to make over the past months. Our Head Judge, John
Torrey, and our pool of regular judges including Troy and Wayne Hadeed, Ravin,
Lee, Warren, Andrew, Andre, etc. have devoted their precious time to see that
the level of surfing in T&T is benchmarked against the highest
international standards.
RedBull Energy Drink has been a silent
partner to the SATT’s success for nearly 3 years, giving resources whenever
possible and asking for very little recognition in return. This year they have stepped up their
contributions and have taken a genuine interest in the advancement of our sport
locally. They have made their presence
known at every event we have hosted this year, and single handedly sponsored
the SATT National Surfing Championships 2009.
Finally I would like to acknowledge the people that
we represent the surfers of Trinidad and Tobago. Surfing is an inherently selfish sport and as
surfers we are constantly looking for empty spots and our “own” wave. However, it’s no fun catching the wave of the
day if you have no friends to see it.
And it’s no good being the best surfer in the water if you’re the only
surfer in the water. The point is that
as surfers we have a connection and we are a family of sorts, and we must unite
and work together like a family to provide a better surfing future for our next
surfing generation.
In the
words of ISA President Fernando Aguerre, at the opening of the WSG 2009, “Surfing is a sport for everybody. It doesn't matter
who you are, where you come from, or how much money you have. It´s a very democratic sport
with no social classes in the water!” This is the attitude we must
carry from the water to our everyday lives and truly live it as we work to
improve the sport we love.
SURFINGS IMAGE
Our goal for the association is to elevate its
image in the public’s eye and make it more “user-friendly”. We want to be able to market surfing and make
it accessible to all, in many different ways.
In order to do this, we need to simplify the image. “The Surfing Association of Trinidad and
Tobago” is a mouthful of words that long-time members even have trouble
stringing together accurately. The SATT
is an acronym that on its members can easily recognize.
Although the official registered name will remain
“The Surfing Association of Trinidad and Tobago”, we are in the process of
dubbing the association with a “Trademark” of sorts. You may be familiar with “Surfing America”,
“Surfing Australia”, and “Surfing South Africa” already. We have come up with a couple options and are
seeking the support of the membership to help decide which is best suited for
T&T.
1) SURF TRINIDAD & TOBAGO
(Abbreviated: SURFT&T, SURFTNT)
2) SURFING TRINIDAD & TOBAGO
(Abbreviated: SURFINGT&T, SURFINGTNT)
I personally like SURFT&T because it is
slightly different from the “SURFING’S” already existing, and it sounds like an
invitation to surfers and non-surfers, locals and foreigners, to literally Surf
T&T! We look forward to hearing what you think and before a final decision
is made, you will get a chance to voice your opinion in a forum to be discussed
later in this report. Anyone involved in
marketing and/or graphic are is encouraged to contribute to developing the new
Logo and promotional material / themes.
MINISTRY OF SPORT
This year support from the Ministry of Sport and
Youth Affairs came to the SATT in a very different way than it has in the
past. Firstly, it came very late during
the third quarter of the governments’ financial year. Secondly, it came with a much more stringent
set of stipulations and requirements for the manner in which the grant funds
are to be spent. Finally, it came with a
36+ page contract that demands serious accountability for the appropriation of
grant funding throughout the association and its endeavors.
As much as we welcome the new system for its move
toward transparency and greater accountability, it has been a major challenge
and a full time job meeting the many requirements, which have even required the
use of a lawyer to properly interpret the legal jargon. Nonetheless, we are
working closely with the Ministry and are focused on having our association
aligned with their goals for the development of sport in the country.
Some of the major initiatives discussed at the
ministry were as follows:
1) Sports for all, Total
Inclusion. I.e. Surfing for the poor,
surfing for special needs, etc.
2) Community Involvement. 70% of
our funding must be spent on development programs in the community. Grants are
based on Membership numbers and increased membership equals increased support!
3) Professional Administration. The
sporting body must move from volunteers to paid professionals in the area of
administration and day-to-day operations. I.e. Secretaries, etc.
ISA AGM
At the WSG 2009 I attended the ISA Annual General
Meeting. I was able to gather a lot of
information about the goals of the ISA and what is up coming. The Quiksilver ISA
World Juniors will be held in New Zealand in January 2010. The Billabong ISA World Surfing Games 2010
will either be held in Peru or Ecuador at a date to be determined in the near
future. The ISA World Masters will not
be held in 2009, and it is currently being bid on for 2010 (rumor has it that
Barbados has put in a bid for this event!)
Another highlight of the AGM was the Introduction
of the “Save the Waves Coalition”. It is
an organization from California that is strongly supported by the ISA. Each member country got an opportunity to
nominate a surf break that they would like to be “Protected”. Naturally I nominated Mt.Irvine on behalf of
the SATT. Each year they will choose one
break based on merit to focus on creating a protective status.
However, more importantly, whether or not we
receive such status immediately we already have the support of this coalition
should we need it.
They have a wealth of resources aimed at defending such breaks including
a recently concluded study by an American university that uses a formula to
quantify the value of a surf break to its community based on several factors. This makes it a lot easier to approach a
government or authority and show them actual figures of what is at stake when
they endanger a surf break. We hope that
we never have to use this, but it is comforting knowing it is available. (http://www.savethewaves.org/)
ISA WSG 2009
In preparation for the WSG09 the SATT held 4 team
trials early in the year (Jan-Apr) with a goal of selecting our team well in
advance of the event. These trials were
a great success and a team was chosen, however our preparation was somewhat
foiled. Three of our top four seeded surfers were not able to participate in
the event due to Work Obligations, Injuries, and Lack of Finances. All qualifying surfers had their
Accommodations, Entry Fees, and 50% of their Airfare paid for by the SATT. To represent the SATT as a team member they
were required to pay 50% of their airfare and cover the cost of their meals.
In accordance with the requirements of the Ministry
or Sport for Grant Spending, and in keeping with the SATT’s drive for
membership participation, it is highly likely that this policy for teams
representing the country will continue and perhaps the SATT will reduce the
amount of funding contributed to such events.
In short, there will be no free rides.
The need for efficient and productive fund raising is a reality and it
is currently non-existent in this association.
When a level of surfing is reached among the junior team that warrants a
greater financial contribution to sending this team to the World Junior Championships
this policy may be waivered, however I can foresee that such a venture will be
highly subsidized by sponsorship also.
Although our Team placed well for having just 5
surfers (32 of 35), compared to the full teams, it is safe to say that we were
grossly unprepared for the event. With a
lack of training and a lack of any real structure, we did little more
competitively than “show our face” at the event. We flew our flag proudly and represented our
country while networking with other small countries to help strengthen our
initiatives.
However, in retrospect it is clear that we need to
review the goals of the association in terms of competing in these games and
weigh the cost against the reward.
Perhaps the money and time can be better spent locally developing the
quality of young surfers so that someday we can attend these games and really
make an impact with surfers of world class quality throughout an entire team.
THE FUTURE
Most successful sporting associations have a set
calendar of events from a year or two in advance so they can at least plan
their big events in a timely manner.
This is something we are moving towards:
1) Christmas in D Bowl. NEW
EVENT. We have often dropped the ball
through the second half of the year, once nationals, etc. is over. This is a family day; cook up, fun event at
Las Cuevas bowl. It is also the last
event for the year to score surfer of the year points.
2) The Surfer of the Year awards. This will be awarded at an SATT Prize giving
function in January, taking place in a location to be determined in the Toco/Balandra Area.
3) SATT Nationals 2010. Second
Weekend in July.
4) Caribbean Nations Cup. We have been discussing with Jamaica the
development of a Caribbean team contest and we are hoping to host the first
annual event in Trinidad in 2010. The
goal is to secure airline sponsorship to bring Jamaica and Barbados teams, and
hope for additional participation from other islands. We will keep you posted on developments.
5) Judges Accreditation – We are
looking to vastly expand our core group of judges to better facilitate the
increase in events we plan to have next year.
We encourage anyone interested in learning to judge and becoming ISA
certified to let us know ASAP so that we can include you in our planning.
6) In 2010 we are planning a lot
more events to greater involve the greater surfing body and the general
public. We will be bringing surfing to
the communities and people that would not normally take part in an effort to
share our sport. This included special
needs and poor people. We have an
opportunity give back and change lives, and we hope that all our members will
seize the opportunity and be a part of this sharing.
SATT AGM ‘09
We have realized from our last AGM that the
attendance of the membership was basically non-existent. The implication of
this is that everyone is perfectly happy with the job we are doing and that no
members have ideas or changes they would like to contribute or initiate. Yet, we consistently hear the senseless
banter in the background about what we are doing wrong, etc. As a member of the
association YOU MUST SPEAK UP if you have something to say.
INTERNET FEEDBACK
The surfers of T&T spend more time on the
internet than they do surfing, fact! So,
in order to use this to our benefit, we will be developing an online feedback
form that addresses a lot of these topics discussed so that you will be able to
contribute your opinions and help make this process as democratic and
transparent as possible. We will also be
revamping out website to make more functional and full of content that we hope
you will enjoy. Look out for more on
this in the near future.
YOUNG SURFERS
The future of surfing in Trinidad and Tobago lies
in our youths. For those who are not
aware, we are very far behind our “competition”, Jamaica and Barbados. Barbados has a well established junior/kids
circuit of events with over 20 competitors in 4+ categories. They have 10 year olds that are landing
airs. They recently took a small crew of
kids to a grom search event in Florida and had 3
girls in the final, placing 1st, 2nd and 3rd.
Also, they had one boy in the final and one in the semi-final, and this against
the highly competitive and resourceful American surfers. Additionally, my counterpart in Jamaica,
Billy Wilmot, informed me that he has a clan of young groms
that are absolutely ripping and are set to take over the Caribbean in a few
years time. Judging by the surfing of
his two sons, I don’t doubt that for a minute.
This is why the SATT has renewed its focus for
2010. We are all about developing young
surfers, the champions of tomorrow. The
time is now to encourage your young children, young brothers, cousins, nephews
and nieces to get in the water and enjoy the sport that has so much to offer. We have some great surf instructors, with
budding surf schools, support them and the youths can learn from the best
surfers in the country.
MEMBERSHIP DRIVE
Being a member of the SATT is not just for
competitors in events. Every surfer in
the country should be a member of the association and show their support for
surfing. We are working to increase the
benefits associated with being a member, and so we encourage you to pay the
very small fee and contribute whatever you can. You can give your Time,
resources, anything. As I mentioned
earlier, the support of the MOSYA through grant funding is based on our
membership number and how we grow this.
All the operating surf schools and surf instructors
should keep in mind that the SATT provided them the opportunity to be trained
and certified by the ISA. They should encourage all their students and
participants to become members of the SATT and get involved with their
sport. We are always looking for
volunteers at events and it is a great opportunity for new surfers to meet other
surfers and become part of the network.
Surf Instructors please do your part, it is to your benefit the
association and its membership grows.
MEMORIAL
As some of you may already know, we lost one of
Trinidad and Tobago’s great surfing brothers recently, CHRIS CABRAL. He was an avid surfer and a mentor to many of
T&T’s best surfers in their developmental years. According to Alan Davis, “Chris loved to tell
you what you could do to surf better”.
He loved surfing and welcomed all surfers during the short time he ran “Toco Loco” Bar and Restaurant. In his Memory we will be establishing the
CHRIS CABRAL MEMORIAL SURFER OF THE YEAR AWARD.
HISTORY OF SURFING IN T&T
There is very little, if any, recorded data of the
history of Surfing in Trinidad and Tobago.
We are at risk of losing this vital information forever if we do not
make an effort to preserve it for the future.
With this in mind, I will be working to collect any and all data that
can be derived from the membership and will be assembling it into a
timeline. My aim is to create a section
on our website dedicated specifically to the history of surfing in T&T.
I am calling on all members, especially the older
ones, to dust off your scrap books and photo albums, uncover your old trophies,
and help us write history. We are
looking for scans of old pictures, new digital pics
of memorabilia, and general information.
If you won juniors in 1986, we want to know. If you were the first person to surf Beach
Break, and you named the spot, we want to know.
If you were on the team for the first World Surfing Games in Puerto
Rico, we want to see pictures!
CHRIS DENNIS – BETWEEN WORLDS
James O’Connor and his jtography studio are currently working on an epic film, the
first of its kind in the country, featuring the day to day work of local surfer
Chris Dennis and his goal of breaking the top 100 on the WQS. To learn more about this project you can
visit their website at: http://www.jtography.com/jtography/ChrisDennis.html