Para Surfing Pathway

Talent Pathway

A plan to create a pathway for people with physical disabilities and visual impairments across England which will include; Improving access to surfing from a grassroots level, continual development of surfers and coaches and to remain at the forefront of competitive level para surfing as part of Team England.

Grassroots para surfing will be improved by giving affordable access to the sport via roadshows, tours of the country trying to access as many areas as possible and give people the opportunity to try surfing for the lowest cost possible. After an initial experience of surfing para surf clubs will allow surfers to continue surfing regularly again for a very reasonable cost. These clubs will allow continued development of surfers and as a gateway to the elite team England. Yearly selection from the para clubs will give surfers the opportunity to break into the development squad, this will see training run by Surfing England coaches throughout the year. The aim of the development squad is to prepare surfers for competition surfing and potential selection for Team England Para.

HUBS/Clubs

After people have accessed surfing through the roadshow, we will have 5/6 para surf hubs across the country which will act as regional bases for para surfing. The aim being to offer regular sessions for surfers wanting to continue the sport after the roadshow taster sessions. These hubs will run monthly adaptive/para surf clubs between march and November. These clubs will be run by surf school/charity or CIC and will aim to build a small squad of surfers that are able to surf regularly and improve their skills. This will be a follow up to initial access to the sport from the para surfing roadshow.

5/6 Hubs initially across the country

South Shields

Scarborough

Bournemouth

Croyde

Bude

Watergate

These training sessions would run on the same day each month at similar times. This will allow us to create consistent and large amount of social media exposure from across the hubs.

These clubs are encouraged to do land based training or flat water training based on conditions. This will keep momentum of sessions rolling throughout the year and allow club members to bond and collectively develop.

The adaptive pathway manager for Surfing England will check in monthly from each location to discuss numbers, how sessions have run and any challenges.

DEVELOPMENT SQUAD

This squad will feed into Team England with the development squad preparing athletes for this progression. Once yearly Surfing England will do a combined training session with each club with Team England coaches.

There will be half yearly selection from all hubs for inclusion for the Surfing England Para development squad. This squad will be made up of a maximum of 10 athletes at each location.

This development squad will train in addition to their club training 4/5 times a year, this will be at multiple locations across the country including the North East, Cornwall and Devon.

Competition Pathway