The crowd gets in on the sustainability discussion. Photo: Ofier Zigner
As far as the best part about surfing goes, we all know what our author means about waiting for good swells and how that creates an enormous amount of stoke when you get one, but quite honestly the best part about surfing is surfing. It’s not waiting to go surf. Perhaps that’s not a shared opinion, but there’s also no one holding a gun to all surfers’ heads saying, “you have to go surf in surf parks once they’re built.” What you will have to do, though, is deal with whatever implications they have on the industry.
So to address the big one in my mind: “It sounds like you want more people to surf so you can sell us more products. Pretty obvious.”
We live in a capitalistic society. People are going to build these parks with or without surf industry folks involved. The fact of the matter is: people are trying to make money from these parks. Another fact: many of the people who probably will make some big money have nothing to do with the surfing industry – they just happen to have funny money and are looking for the next big thing to invest in. Big surprise there.
What we can do as surfers, stewards of the environment, people who generally have a soul and want to make a positive impact on the world, is to work together to make sure that these parks are built with the right things in mind, by the best people possible, and with all the good aspects of surfing instilled in them. If you want to turn your back on that and say you want nothing to do with it, that’s fine; but also know that if we all did that, we’d be giving free license to any fat cat looking to make some more money, to stick these parks up wherever there’s a land-rich, dry, non-ocean-going palm waiting to be greased. If that happens, then we’re all in trouble.
Ultimately, if some people can make a living by trying to guide the sport that we all love so much in the right direction, what’s wrong with that? After all, that’s part of the American Dream, is it not? I know I’d much rather be working in and for an industry I love than sitting behind a desk selling office supplies or life insurance. But if that’s your thing, then Godspeed. I’ll see you out in the next swell.
In summation, the Summit got a great dialogue going here about the future of the industry, but it’s far from over. We need to keep working together to stay in the right direction. We hope you’ll join us to make that happen. Check us out at SurfParkCentral.com to see our latest video from the Summit and for more information on the industry.
