Surfing England has announced a hugely exciting new partnership with Decathlon UK, one of the world’s leading sports brands.
The partnership is based on a shared ethos that sport should be for the many and that the wave riding craft and equipment essential to surfing shouldn’t be a barrier to accessing the waves. More than ever the benefits of sport and in particular surfing and SUP are being recognised for their positive impacts on mental and physical wellbeing. Being able to access affordable, but great quality equipment is essential to access those amazing benefits.
Decathlon will provide funding to build a new beginners surfing programme as well as donating a range of equipment from their in-house watersports brands to be used by Surfing England coaches and schools, supporting their mission to build a healthy surfing community. In addition, Decathlon has launched a new landing page directing customers to the Surfing England website where they can find more information on where to learn to surf and how to surf safely. These efforts will make the oceans more accessible, encouraging more of the UK to get active in the water. “There has never been a more important time to support people to get a big dose of blue health in the waves, ” said Ben Powis, CEO at Surfing England. “This is a partnership about enabling people to get into the water, helping those at the start of their surfing journey to access equipment that’s affordable, good quality, well designed and what’s more, it comes from a company with a genuine passion for sport and the outdoors”.
In testament to Decathlon’s commitment to surfing, the partnership will run for at least 4 years, covering the next Olympic cycle to Paris 2024 and beyond.
Kornel Pintara, Decathlon UK Watersports Leader, added: “We are delighted to begin this new partnership with Surfing England, where we can help to make surfing more accessible.
“Decathlon wants to encourage the UK population to lead more active lifestyles so they can benefit from the physical and mental benefits. Surfing England does brilliant work in our local communities and we’re proud to support them. As the partnership progresses we’re hopeful of taking part in flagship events across the UK, engaging with the surfing community over the next 4 years.
