NZ Surf League programme announced

The full programme for the New Zealand Surf League has been announced following the initial changes released earlier this year.

Surf League has been a critical event in a major review of Surf Life Saving New Zealand national events.  The final programme has been developed in consultation with athletes, coaches, managers, officials, Local Sport Committees and guided by the National Sport Committee.

In broad terms everyone agreed on the need to retain the fundamental elements of Surf League as a fast paced and spectator friendly opportunity and the need to ensure the event is financially sustainable for the future.

Key Changes to Surf League confirmed

• Competition will be run over 2 days
• Featuring teams from eight provinces and one international team. 
• Under-14 competitors no longer included

Rationale

• Good pathways for under 14 athletes already exist such as the national under 14 championships
• Provides a future focused  aspirational goal for under 14 members which will aid retention
• Removes the difficulties of under 14 athletes getting additional time off school
• Diminishes risk of under 14 athlete burn-out and drop-off
• Cost of running the event is decreased through a reduction in numbers of competitors, coaches and management

The Committee did however recognise that these views were not universal and that some people would have preferred to keep the under 14's in Surf League.

Age Groups

The final composition of the teams has now been determined and will include separate titles for under-16, under-19 and open age groups.  Under-16 and under-19 competitions will be run together on Saturday and Sunday morning.  The open age group will run on Saturday and Sunday afternoons.

Athletes may only compete in one age group (under 16, under 19, or open), to avoid 'double dipping'.

Rationale

• Focus on improving athlete depth in all provinces
• Provides representative opportunities for more athletes
• Finding the province with the best athletes in each age group
• More consistent athlete workloads over the event

Mixed double ski replaces canoe

These will be re-introduced into the event and canoes will be removed.

Rationale

• More racing for ski paddlers (consistent with swim and board events)
• Re-introduction of the double ski
• Alignment with international events
• Reduction in costs and improved logistics, such as sourcing and transportation of canoes
• Canoe crews have increasingly been non-specialised crews made up of ski paddlers

Additional Changes

• Beach flag run-offs on Friday and Saturday evenings, with the final four run-offs in each age group in the main arena on both days
• All races will start with a straight run to the water or craft.

The National Sport Committee working group will also review the rules around drafting and provide clear Drafting Rules in the "Invitation to Attend" that will be sent to provinces by 1 October 2012.

SLSNZ would like to thank the National Sport Committee working group for leading this process and also all the Local Sport Committees and other members who contributed to the review and programme development.

Expressions of interest are now being sought for team coaches and managers for 2013. Please direct all enquiries' through to your Regional Programmes and Services Manager.

2013 New Zealand Surf League Programme - OPEN

Open Team

• 12 Athletes -can be from any qualified age group, includes 2 person IRB crew
• Athletes that compete in Under 16 or Under 19 cannot compete in Open (no double dipping)
• Minimum 5 Females per team
• No specialist IRB patients

 Open - Programme of events

Dearlove -  All 12 athletes involved (number of athletes in brackets)

IRB Single (3); 2 x Swim (2); 2 x Board (2); 2 x Ski (2); Double Ski (2); Sprint (1)

2013 New Zealand Surf League Programme - Under 16 and Under 19

Under 16 Team

• 10 Athletes (5 males, 5 females)
• Athletes cannot compete in under-16 and under-19 (no double-dipping)

Under 19 Team

• 10 Athletes (4 males, 4 females, 2 x IRB crew)
• Athletes cannot compete in under-16 and under-19 (no double-dipping)
• IRB crew will be under-21

Under 16 and Under 19 - Programme of events

Dearlove  All athletes involved (number of athletes in brackets)

U16 Dearlove: Sprint (1); Mixed Board Rescue (2); Swim (2); Board (2); Ski (2); Sprint (1)

U19 Dearlove: IRB Single (3); Swim (2); Board (2); Ski (2); Sprint (1)

Download a electronic copy of this information here (pdf, 207kb)

Download the programme for the New Zealand Surf League (pdf, 53kb)