Channel Islands celebrate £1.35m investment in British surfing

Monday 21 December 2020

The surfing community in the Channel Islands has welcomed news that £1.35m has been awarded to British Surfing as part of Olympic funding.

In a first for the sport, British Surfing – an organisation formed to develop elite surfers for the Olympics - will receive funding from UK Sport, a national high performance sports agency.

It comes as part of a £352m award across 43 Olympic sports, in preparation for both the Olympic and Paralympic games. The award to surfing is part of a ‘Progression’ investment supporting the medal potential of new sports as part of a 12 year approach.

Arlene Maltman, Director of British Surfing in the Channel Islands said: “I am delighted to hear about this significant investment in a sport that until the 1970s was not even a sport. Today surfing is a visual treat, it is exciting and appeals to a far wider and diverse audience."

Pictured: This will be the first time the sport has been granted funding from UK Sport.

She continued: “British Surfing has worked extremely hard to satisfy the criteria for funding set out by UK Sport.  I am proud of the work we have achieved so far. As our development plan is formulated and delivered, I hope to see our local surfers join a new movement of dedicated athletes who have their sights set on the Olympic Games.”

Dave Ferguson, President of the Channel Island Surfing Federation (CISF) said: “This is a huge boost for local surfing.  Jersey especially has a rich surfing heritage and we have punched above our weight on the international stage, producing many champions.

“This investment comes at a great time when we all need some good news, we may well see our young local surfers on that Olympic performance pathway. It gives young talent something to aspire to.

“We are so excited to hear the news that surfing will get such a huge boost from UK Sport. During the pandemic surfing on the Island has proved to be a great source of wellbeing for many surfers, with so many more people taking up the sport."

Pictured: British Surfing helps in the elite performances, selection, preparation and management of British surfers wanting to compete in the Olympics.

Sally Munday, CEO of UK Sport said: “Today’s decisions signal our future ambition to broaden the areas in which we achieve global success and deepening our societal impact.

“This means supporting more sports via the World Class Programme and Progression Funding than ever before, as well as welcoming more athletes and staff from varied backgrounds into our high-performance sporting community so we better reflect the diversity of the country we represent.

“As a sector we must be better at reaching, connecting and inspiring the British public in order to deepen our societal impact in communities across the country, using the exceptional power of sport and our platform in the British conscious.

“I’m really pleased that we’ll be launching a new fund next year which will be open to any summer sport not on World Class Programme or Progression Funding.”