HAWAII INTRODUCE SURFING TO SCHOOLS
Hawaii is set to become the first US state to include surfing as an official competitive sport in the School curriculum. This fantastic new format is set to encourage the best surfers from each school to compete against each other for the inter school title.
World Champion and local resident Carissa Moore (the youngest lady to ever win the Surf World Championships) announced the news next to the iconic statue of Duke Kahanamoku, the much celebrated ‘Father of modern Surfing’. Ms Moore said the sport had taught her life skills such as perseverance, and claimed that news of it becoming an extra-curricular school sport was “awesome”. Ms Moore went on:
“Surfing and riding a wave is so much like life,” she said. “You fall down over and over again, but you keep picking yourself back up until you ride one all the way to the beach.”
The idea behind the scheme is to entice the non-participants of inter-school sports (such as Football and Volleyball) to channel their ‘positive energy into something active’.
Hawaii is blessed with some of the best surf breaks in the world, firmly establishing the sport in the culture of the island and unofficially becoming the no.1 sport of the state.
Governor Neil Abercrombie said the Pacific islands state was surfing’s “birthplace”.”The sport is rooted in our culture and way of life” he said.
“It’s quite clear, when you think of Hawaii, you think of surfing.”
The inter-school competitions are to be judged in the same way as professional competition, split by gender, and points awarded for: Difficulty of tricks attempted, Flow and the Overall style of the rider on the board.
Here at Extreme Element we think this scheme is a fantastic way to utilise the country’s natural surroundings and can’t help but wonder what could be made of the UK’s ranging terrains. Imagine instead of double maths & double physics – being outside skating or mountain biking!
Do you think Surf Lessons or another extreme sport could take off as an extra curricular activity?
