The first official surfing centre specifically for people with disabilities has opened in North Devon.
It is the first time that Surfing England, the national governing body for surfing in England, has officially designated a surf school an official ‘adaptive surfing hub’.
The award recognises many years of work by The Wave Project, which has been a major part of the growth of adaptive surfing in England. A fundamental aspect of this was the creation of an Adaptive Surf volunteer training program, co-written by the Wave Project and Surfing England, which the charity provides free to volunteers and surf coaches to raise standards in the industry.
All this has been made possible with the support of local surf school Surf South West which has been at the forefront of the adaptive surfing movement.
The new centre in Croyde offers a ‘centre of excellence’ for people with disabilities who want to try surfing or improve in the sport, providing highly trained coaches and the latest adaptive surfing equipment to enable people with all disabilities to take part in the sport.
“The sport of surfing has made great progress in the past decade, becoming more inclusive and accessible to all,” said Joe Taylor, CEO of The Wave Project.
“The new Adaptive Surfing Hub in Croyde is the next key step in this journey to making surfing a sport for everyone in the UK.”
On the global agenda, adaptive surfing is currently being considered as a sport for the Paralympics.
To find out more go to https://www.waveproject.co.uk/adaptive-surfing/ or https://www.surfsouthwest.com/adaptive-surfing-devon/ or www.surfingengland.org
Comments