Within the pages of SurfWatch is the rich history of Second Life (SL) surfing from the mouths of the surfers that created or developed or promoted or excelled in this virtual sport over the years. Enjoy these interviews and the perspective from these surf legends as SurfWatch begins "The Legends Series".
Surfwatch recently sat down with Colleen Brennan, Director with the SLSA Board, to discuss her recent re-election and current changes to the SLSA competition registration process.
SurfWatch: How do you feel about another term as Director on the Board?
Colleen Brennan: First of all, it is a great honor to be elected for another term. My main goal, as always, is to preserve what is so very good about SLSA surfing and tweak what needs to be changed so that the maximum amount of people can have the maximum amount of fun.
SW: What are some of the most urgent matters you will be addressing?
CB: The most pressing issue we have involves registrations, and I believe that the surf-in proposal is the best one for addressing that. It will allow us to keep registration and competitions open while also limiting the length of time consumed by a competition (editors note: See SW 3/12/09 SLSA New Competition Format for details). I am excited that we now have almost a 50% increase in the number of people who will surf in a competition. The expanded opening round should give us all more surfing and less waiting.
SW: What other matters is the Board looking into?
CB: I would like to work on shoring up sponsorship support. I hope everyone realizes that is how the whole SLSA can even happen. I appeal right now to everyone who wants to keep the SLSA running to consider a sponsorship, maybe even one for their team (editors note: See SW 3/13/09 SLSA Seeking Sponsorships).
SW: Any other issues facing the new Board?
CB: I think it also may be time to review judging and other guidelines and see if they need updating and improvement. For example, there have been major changes since many of the current guidelines were initially adopted and we surfed on pre-Havok4 boards on a single length pipeline wave. Back then, it was almost impossible not to belly. "Using the whole wave" meant something entirely different than it does now with a 200 meter long Epic wave. We also need to evaluate what board scripts will be allowed in competitions. As I understand it, the 6 series script is becoming more widely distributed now. We will need to evaluate its impact and update the guidelines for changes in surfboard technology.
SW: Any final words?
CB: The more detailed we can get on this, the more it will be appreciated by surfers as well as judges. I believe everyone would appreciate improved guidelines on what is expected. Surfers will, in order to give a top performance, and judges will, in order to be most fair. The most important thing of all, tho, is that anything adopted will have to come from consulting the surfers and judges and then revising the guidelines. One thing that will be essential, in my opinion, is to reward excitement and innovation. The main concern is that, whatever system the judges end up with, it should encourage all-out surfing and reward risk taking over safety surfing. It is more exciting to watch someone who is trying to win than someone who is trying not to lose.
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1 comment:
Really enjoying reading and learning from these classic interviews. Puts things into perspective as to how things got to where we're at today. Thanks!
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