After a successful debut at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, Surfing Australia are already looking beyond to the next generation of Aussie boardriders for the 2032 Brisbane Olympics.
After another COVID impacted year, Surfing Australia CEO Chris Mater says the sport is ready for a massive summer as junior participation is set to increase.
“We had to cancel a few events which was a bit disappointing,” Mater said on SEN 1170 Mornings.
“But now as we come into the summer, we’ve launched our Surfer Groms Comp which is all about getting five to 12-year-olds into the sport of surfing.”
The exposure of surfing at the Tokyo Olympics and Australian Owen Wright winning a Bronze Medal was exactly what the sport needed according to Mater.
“Owen doing that was absolutely incredible,” Mater said.
“What we’ve seen is more people talking about surfing, wanting to go surfing and then getting out and doing it.”
The Surfer Groms program encourages children to pick up a board at an early age to acquire the skills to excel in the sport.
“There’s no doubt that the bigger the base of people participating, the more chance you’ll make world champions,” he said.
Mater says Surfing Australia’s attention is firmly set on not just Brisbane Games but the Paris and Los Angeles Olympics as well.
“We’ve got Paris in 2024 which will be an absolute cracker,” Mater said.
“Then we have LA which is another great location for surfing.”
The long-term focus for the organisation will be ensuring they have surfers peaking at the right time for Brisbane.
“We’ve got some incredible talent,” Mater said.
“They will be in their prime (for the 2032 Olympics), so they’ll be well positioned and hopefully win some more medals like Owen did.”