A little bit of history
Discussions about whether the organization of Czech surfing could and should be on a better level have been going on in different groups and in different intensity since time immemorial. After all, in 2003 the Association of Czech Surfing was founded in Brno, of which some of you may have been members. Maybe some of you even still have your original membership cards from that time. Czech surfing was, however, still in its infancy and it was not yet time to start a functioning sports association.
The Czech surfing community therefore owes its origins mainly to the Czech surf camps and surfhouses, which started to appear all over the world around the year 2007, and also to the only big Czech surf contest so far - the Czech and Slovak surfing championships - which has been held under the Surfchamp banner since 2008 and which has allowed us to meet each other at least once a year and compare our skills. This environment was enough for the development of Czech surfing for a long time.
"The Czech surf community owes its origins mainly to Czech surf camps and the Surfchamp contest."
The discussion about the establishment of the Association was rekindled about four years ago by Milo Brzák, who needed the support of the Czech sports federation organizing surfing in the Czech Republic, which was and still is the Czech Stand Up Paddle Federation, in order to participate in the Adapted World Championships organized by the ISA.
At that time we started a discussion with CFSUP about whether they would like to join under an umbrella organization, which would be the Czech Surfing Association. Understandably, the reaction from CFSUP was negative, because Czech surfing at that time didn't have much to offer and was not an equal partner.
In response to this development, in 2017, the Prague Surf Club was established, with the goal of gradually building the foundations of organised surfing and seeing if there was any interest in it in the Czech Republic. The reactions to the formation and functioning of the Prague Surf Club and subsequently the Brno Surf Club motivated us to start taking concrete steps towards the establishment of the Czech Surfing Association.
We put together an email with our vision, sent it to (hopefully) a significant part of the Czech surfing community and started a new discussion that brought a lot of new suggestions and also supported the idea of creating an independent Czech Surfing Association, which should from the beginning try to cooperate as closely as possible with the CFSUP, which is currently a member of the International Surfing Association.
"The Czech Surfing Association will try to cooperate as closely as possible with CFSUP from the beginning"
And that brings us to the present. In the last few weeks we have signed the necessary documents, launched the website and social media profiles and the Czech Surfing Association is finally here. But this was just the beginning and we hope that it is the beginning of something that the whole Czech surfing community, including Czechs living abroad, will participate in.
Is it even worth it to start a surfing association in the Czech Republic?
Surfing is first and foremost fun for most of us and of course we are still aware of the level of Czech surfing compared to the rest of the world.
But at the same time it is a fact that surfing is gaining more and more popularity in the world, which is probably felt by everyone who has been surfing a little longer and watching the lineups fill up year after year at every spot on the planet. Its growing popularity among the general public was, after all, reflected in its inclusion in this year's postponed Tokyo Olympics.
This move has once again sparked a lot of debate about whether surfing should be considered a sport or whether it should forever remain more within the confines of a lifestyle. Whatever our opinion on this question, it is undeniable that for many people surfing is a sport. And in the Czech Republic, it is currently the only Olympic sport that is not officially organized.
We are very well aware of the gap between the current level of Czech and world surfing. But at the same time we notice the huge shift that Czech surfing has made in the last 15 years.
"We have also noticed that we are starting to have a lot of young surfers who will most likely one day surf much better than their parents' generation."
We want to create the best possible space for their future development and lay the best possible foundations on which they can one day build. In addition, we are keenly watching the rise of new artificial wave technologies that could one day bring surfing at least partially closer to our homes.
"We are, however, still aware that we must not take this too seriously. There must be a balance."
We are not professionals, most of us don't surf for a living and we do it mainly for fun. So we will try to keep it that way. We don't want to create a bureaucratic monster where we're going to divide up the positions and pat ourselves on the back. At the same time, we are convinced that if you are going to do something, you should do it in the best possible way and that a clear organisational structure helps both to function efficiently and to maintain as much transparency as possible.
It's up to all of us how the association will work
The Czech Surfing Association was established on the small initiative of a few Czech surfers after consultations with the rest of the surfing community. We have only laid the necessary foundation and now we invite all of you to join us and build it together with us. Contact us if you want to know more about the association or want to get involved.
We will also be happy to receive any comments and criticism. Approximately one year after the founding of the association, a general meeting will be held to elect new leadership to replace the interim executive committee members.
For more information about the association, keep an eye on the website and our social media profiles, or write to us directly via the contacts listed on the website.