T

he first Asian Surfing Development Symposium started Monday and aims to support the budding local surf communities of Asia.

Summer Nelson, membership manager of the International Surfing Association (ISA) acknowledged that Asian countries were rich in excellent waves and talented surfers.

'€œWe would like to see a level playing field in the sport of surfing, where world champions can come from any country, including Asian countries.'€

'€œAs we seek to develop surfing globally, our goal is to support surfers from the level of a solid foundation,'€ she said, stressing that it was important for each country to have a national governing body, which would support the surfers in their region by offering tools and support systems.

'€œSuccessful national governing bodies, which host national surf competitions with properly trained judges and have qualified coaches working with their beginning surfers, will support a higher performance level of surfers who can eventually represent their countries in international competitions.'€

The Asian Surfing Championships (ASC), together with the ISA, have already been assisting countries such as Thailand, Malaysia, Taiwan, the Philippines and Indonesia in forming national governing bodies and by sanctioning yearly surfing competitions.

Through this symposium, it is hoped that more countries will join and fuel the growth of Asian surfing.

Glen Elliott, ISA judging advisor, was very optimistic about the future of surfing in Asia, saying that he was happy to see the level of enthusiasm and commitment of attendees from all over Asia.

'€œIt shows that the sport of surfing is in good hands here in Asia, and that the future looks very promising,'€ he said.

On the first day, 25 participants from Thailand, Australia, Indonesia, the Maldives, the Philippines, Uruguay and Singapore joined the international judging and officiating program in the symposium presented by the ISA and ASC.

The participants, all surfers whose experience levels ranged from surfing in competitions to actually judging ASP (Association of Surfing Professionals) star-rated events, were taken through almost seven hours of intensive instruction, where they first reviewed the basics before being taken through detailed instruction and analysis using video, whiteboard and reference manuals by Elliott, who is an ASP Australasian head judge.

The ISA Judging & Officiating Development Program is a comprehensive educational program that has been identified by leading sporting organizations as the worlds'€™ best educational practice in the development of quality accredited surfing officials, endorsed by the ISA and recognized by the ASP and the International Olympic Committee.

Australian Murray Close, having judged ASP events in Australia in the past, said, '€œIt'€™s been several years since I took brush up courses, so it'€™s giving me a refreshing new outlook on my judging.'€