The SUP World Race Rankings recently posted an interesting article on the State of SUP Racing in Mid-2024. It is a bit of an open letter at all industry and community members. At the Stand Up Magazin we have always been a big supporter of the SUP Rankings by Chris Parker and after his departure from the SUP World we were very happy that Tibor Hasulyo was filling the void left behind. This is why we pay attention to his work and share his passion for numbers and statistics just like Chris Parker did.
In his latest piece, Tibor brings up some very valid points and speaks the mind of many people. We like to highlight some of these points and try to amplify some the talking points as well as bringing some ideas and opinions to the table.
Numbers don’t lie
The SWR has 300 SUP Races registered of which so far 100 have been evaluated based on the criteria given and 200 races have been held so far this year. Putting this into perspective: July 24th is day number 206 which means that there has been a SUP Race every day since January first with six days off. This is a staggering number and deserves an article on its own, but we think we can conclude this later as our analysis continues.
Geographical challenges identified
SUP once was the biggest in the USA, Hawaii and Australia, that is old news and the sport departed from these hot spots to mainly Europe. We all know that and yet again we could write a whole article on the reasons behind that. In fact if you search deep enough you can find content of us and Chris Parker analyzing just that. There are efforts in the US to bring more structure and momentum back into competitive SUP Racing. How ever this will take time and many volunteer hours. We must not forget that the USA is bigger than Europe and therefore a bit harder to manage. In Australia all SUP activities are happening on the ocean and most ocean surf minded athletes have traded the SUP for a Foil.
In Europe the situation seems stabile, so the SWR. However this wording indicates a stagnation in the sport rather than a growth:
Quote: “Every year, there are emerging countries where SUP gains more momentum (e.g., after an ICF World Championship), but unfortunately, they can’t maintain or increase this growth.”
While we see great participation evidently the SWR does not see growth and this could be a concern.
Just like Tibor, we see much activity in Asia, as an example we see the KAPP putting together a tour with price money. Japanese athletes like Rai Taguchi and Shuri Araki are putting Japan on the map. After all we might call Japan the California of Asia and the sport is growing over there. In fact we would feel guilty if we did not mention Kenny Kaneko here who is probably one of the first Japanese SUP Athletes to make an impression internationally. Thailand appears to have great growth, we are sure the ICF Worlds in 2023 created great excitement for the sport.
One region that appears to be struggling as well is South and Central America. Despite the buzz around the PanAm Games, the great work by the crew in Sayulito or the Aloha Spirit Cup in Brazil there seems to very little to no growth. In case of Brazil there might be hope as surfing is now the 2nd largest sport after “Fussball” and this excitement might spill over into SUP Sports.
The question about the growth of SUP
This is most likely the biggest question but it comes in multiple layers and Tibor does not want to get political with it. However, in order to iron out problems, that are all human made, things have to get political. The bigger picture is that in certain countries SUP is governed by ISA affiliates and in others by ICF affiliates, there are very few countries where SUP is governed by SUP and if so they are a subsidiary, once again by either an ICF or ISA National Association. This problem was created years ago when nobody wanted to govern SUP. Even the ISA was the first to take on SUP on an international level, there was a lack of structure reaching down into national Surf Federations or even the lack thereof. Eventually this created a patchwork across the globe of who is in charge of the sport. Turning the wheel back in time to iron out these maldevelopments is impossible.
In short by Tibor: “I consider youth development the most important task awaiting solutions. There is no adequate club network, no proper coach training, no affordable high-quality equipment, and we lack 200-300 thousand motivated and success-hungry young athletes!”
This is in short what we just talked about above. How he is coming up in hopes of a number of quarter of a million SUP hungry juniors we are not quite sure. However the “no adequate club network” hits the nail on the head and is an exact result of the early surf take over of the sport. Surfing is not a club sport particularly not in land locked regions. Most countries have a national surf association and then that is it. Most countries however have canoe clubs. We once again arrive at the fact the a sport needs as structure. (We like to refer here once again to our recent interview with Fiona Wylde on how to grow Wing Foiling as a sailing sport.)
Once thing that gets left out a bit in the article is the age group in the sport. When we look at some races the most competitive age group is in their 40ties and 50ties. From our perspective it feels some times that the middle aged SUP enthusiasts tend to like to celebrate themselves quite a bit. We talk about how important the juniors are but: “Hey look at me I just won my age group I am a pro now”. If you are a 20 something, do you want to spend the weekend with a bunch of old people? Maybe times have changed, but back in our days, anybody above the age of 30 was old. If you are a teenager you look up to the elite guys and gals who are dominating the sport. They are the driving motivator and their accomplishments the carrot at the end of the stick.
Financial problems
On this item we once again like to thank Tibor for speaking out: “Top SUP athletes currently struggle to save money by the end of their careers, deterring young athletes from pursuing a career in SUP !”
This is a syndrome caused by all the above symptoms. The consequence of this: “Without financial incentives and a clear career path, the sport will continue to face difficulties in attracting and retaining young talent.”
A solution for some: “Some enthusiastic parents still try to finance their children’s SUP careers from the family budget, but this example can’t save the sport from mediocrity.”
The Call
Tibor: “If those deciding the fate of SUP are not knowledgeable, good solutions can’t be born. “
“It’s up to us coaches, race organizers, sports journalists, and SUP enthusiasts to elevate SUP to the right level. As the owner of SWR, I have been working for over 5 years to ensure that racers and races are ranked based on fair and objective mathematical values, because if we don’t know who and what is worth what, it’s hard to say what we’re doing well and what we’re not.”
The calling we are hearing is: Elevate to the right level. We have to ask ourselves first, how do we define elevate and where or what is the right level. We have been elevating the SUP Sport since 2010. As far as the level goes there seems to be different opinions out there. In our world the level we are looking for is where we have a international pro field competing at the highest level in a world wide tour that allows them to make a living. These pros would be regarded as the heros of the sport and many young upcoming athletes would aspire to compete on their level working their way up through a system. The excitement that the pro tour is creating resonates from the top down and brings more athletes from the bottom up.
Right now that idea is not very poplar because the mid 40ies and 50ies hobbyists feel left out. SUP must be a sport where amateurs can shine as much as elites. Age group titles are as important as line honors. We embrace inclusivity an support all ages and all levels in the sport we have to point out that a sport needs heroes people can look up to and that is not your middle aged amateur. We do not know one sport where young athletes look up to amateurs that just won their age group. As media we must be careful who we glorify and who not. We must look at results and data not at potential sponsors and glorify their otherwise B or C level athlete in order to transport the brand we just sent our invoice to.
Instead we must celebrate junior accomplishments and show case elite paddlers at key races creating a stories of competitiveness, rivalries, comebacks and success stories. We must engage in character building, tell the stories of people who worked their way to the top. These are the ones that need a platform that others can aspire to climb on to. The older hobbyists can still participate and paddle along and even get their medals and recognition alongside these heros, that is the beauty of our sport.
The only organization who was capable of giving athletes such a platform was the APP. Their media production and communication of events was unmatched for many years. Unfortunately it was not sustainable and more than a decade later the APP has a massive uphill battle to regain their trust in the community.
Conclusion
The SUP Sport right now is exactly where it needs to be. It is a sport for the masses. Anyone is invited to come along on the journey and be part of the excitement when people show up at the start line. People who are looking to have profitable career in SUP have to get creative for now with SUP related activities as a side income.
Having a healthy discussion is important to sift out the gems in the rough.