What the fuck is wrong with bodyboarding!? Read this and share it. Like this on FB if you wish.
What the fuck is wrong with bodyboarding!? How comes Movement Mag is releasing their LAST issue? Why? Because no one invests in the sport, including brands and distributors within the sport. Yes, you read it well. How come a magazine like Movement Mag which is the BEST mag ever seen in the bbing industry, made by professionals, goes down?! How come? Because even the brands inside the industry don’t invest, because most brands are managed by amateurs who know nothing about running a business and doing proper marketing. Don’t mis-understand what we’re saying, not all brands are unprofessional like this, some are, but very few. Most brands are just distributors’ brands, not driven by individuals or athletes but just driven by people taking care of multiple brands and specially their own brand coz the margins are 3 times larger this way. Greed. Money. Cheap goods sold at high prices. No support to the media (mags & websites). No wonder why the industry is down again. Economy crisis, yep probly’ but not just that… maybe just a 1/3 of the fiasco could be explained by the actual economy issues.
If you’re a brand and treat media within the bodyboarding industry like shit, how do you expect the same media are gonna advertise or talk about your products? They won’t. Easy. How come we’ve seen brands and distributors within the industry advertise in surfing magazines and surfing websites whereas they could have advertised on bbing media instead? Bad choice. When you dont support the industry, don’t expect the industry to support you. Brands will pay the price for these bad choices, no coverage in mags and no coverage or press releases on websites means you’re dead. This is how it works. Call it karma or bad marketing choices or greed or whatever.
We’re very sad and very sorry for Movement Mag and other mags in general around the planet, kinda disgusted at what the industry has turned into. Do you remember OPTION Mag in the USA? It was the same, a great magazine but probly’ not enough support from a weak industry too busy to count dollars and save money instead of spending a small percentage of their turnover in marketing and ads to keep the ball rolling. It’s a circle, a fragile circle. Ever since we’ve started writing and blogging and doing interviews on this website years ago we’ve kept our hope(s) high and our motivation(s) high just because we love bodyboarding and had faith in some of the people running it and running brands, shops and stuff. We love going to the beach and sharing that stoke. We didn’t care about the money or anything and still don’t care (we’re loosing money right here with this site, spending time to update it and not making any coins with advertisers because they are no advertisers almost) but now we’re even loosing our hope that one day the sport will grow and be more “pro” than it is. It’s amateur league all the way now, even more than before. Cheap competion between brands and distributors, panic, and then fail and extinction. It’s coming. It’s soooo fuct up right now.
The IBA is obvisouly struggling to find sponsors, the pro riders are struggling to find money and sponsors. Where has the money gone? Attracting sponsors from outside the industry doesn’t seem to work too well because when you’re not really passionate about bbing, the sport sucks, no style or attractiveness compared to stand up surfing, let’s be honest. We love bbing but it’s not bankable compared to skating or surfing or snowboarding. Doesn’t matter, we could have coped with this issue IF everyone inside our industry was supporting the sport. Buy bodyboarding brands, buy bodyboarding suits and clothes, follow the tour, watch events, support pros and magazines and websites, buy all mags you can and know your sport and your history of the sport. Know the brands, see who’s for real and who’s here for the money, who’s supporting riders & events for real, who’s runned by athletes and shapers, who’s been here for a while and has done their part to support and push the sport in the right direction. A lot of brands have been pushing the sport and supporting it for years, others have not. Maybe the cake is also too small for so many brands to share it? Hard to say. It’s a small industry but hundred thousands of boards are sold every year so there must be some coins and market out there.
We’re not here to tell you what to do and who to buy from. Just support the sport you love and buy from brands who support bbing. Do the extra effort to buy from these people, be selective, think, get more knowledge, read mags, share the stoke, be smart, stay core, support the core, question everything you do or buy.
Some important news on the IBA Website. In November they appointed Alex Leon as the new IBA World Tour Manager since Terry Mc Kenna resigned from the IBA.
From the IBA site: Alex Leon was appointed to the role of IBA Tour Manager in November 2012 and will take on the full responsibilities of the role for the 2013 World Tour. Alex steps into the position with 4 years experience in various event roles for both the IBA and with the Shark Island Challenge. Prior to this time, Alex spent 10 years as a professional bodyboarder.
IBA Managing Director, Gregg Taylor stated “Alex comes to the role with the right mix of experience and genuine passion for the sport of bodyboarding. With over 14 years in the industry, Alex will bring a fresh perspective and valuable insight to the IBA Tour. “
Alex Leon had the following comments relating to his appointment. “I look forward to working with the event promoters, officials and riders to continue the development of the IBA World Tour for the benefit of the industry and its fans. 2013 is shaping up to be an exciting year with new venues and some fresh faces on the tour. For now all eyes are on the Fronton event and the crowning of the 2012 IBA Mens World Champion.”
All IBA Tour enquiries can be sent to alex@ibaworldtour.com
From Terry Mc Kenna FB page: Terry McKenna resigns from IBA
After 7 years behind the wheel, firstly as General Manager, then more recently as the IBA World Tour manager, Terry McKenna is resigning from IBA Pty Ltd.
Terry insists that it’s only a move from his current employer Gregg Taylor (IBA Pty Ltd) and not an exit from the sport.
“I wont be going far.
I love what I do and I am proud of what I achieved during my time with IBA, said Teza.
It’s been an amazing ride and I met some incredible people along the way. It’s these passionate people, the fans, the promoters and of course the riders that kept me going for so long.
But I think that its time for a change as I believe that the World Tour in its current form has possibly reached its natural pinnacle.
It’s just not sustainable with so many events and so little prize-money. Just ask the riders themselves.
I think the concept of 8-hour webcasts with 120 people battling over 10 days in mediocre surf just isn’t cutting it in the action sports market and I will now use my contacts and experience to create something more exciting.
I think that my rein at the top of the sport lasted as long as it did because I didn’t have any ulterior motives. I don’t own a label or I am not a major stakeholder in the industry and it’s been purely a desire to create something special that drove me this far.”
In September of 2010 Terry pitched the concept of an equity partnership with Gregg Taylor (owner of Turbo Bodyboards) to the Top 16 in a meeting at the Sintra Portugal Pro.
It was at this meeting that Terry hatched his new concept of the leaderboard format, and sold the model of leasing the tour to a corporate entity in the form of IBA Pty Ltd.
“It took a bit of salesmanship but in the end the decision was made to sign a contract that would lease the tour rights to a company formed by Gregg Taylor”
Gregg represented a group of investors and a finely worded contract was drawn up and signed by both parties, effectively handing the reins to IBA Pty Ltd.
During the next two years Terry worked meticulously with the promoters that he had developed close relationships with to deliver a legitimate world tour.
“Craig Hadden is also an inspiration for me,” said Mckenna.
“His hard work and professionalism is amazing and he is the best head judge in the world, hands down”
With the investors dropping over 1.5 million dollars into the tour the increased profile of bodyboarding came at a cost.
“Put the cheese out and the rats will come,” he laughed.
“I think that one of the downfalls of getting money into the sport is that it brings out the worst in people. Money can drive people to do things that they normally wouldn’t do.”
“I saw some great people get burned and it hurt, a lot.”
It’s a shame that none of this money, not 1 cent, went to raising prize money for the guys that put on the show, the riders themselves”
Terry will go back to developing the best domestic tour in the world in Australia with his major sponsor Rebel Sport, whilst working on an exciting new concept that he hopes to hatch mid year.
Jeff Hubbard wins the Encanto Pro in Puerto Rico! Congrats Jeff!
Press release & recap from the IBA:
Middles Beach, Tuesday 13th November 2012 – Jeff Hubbard (HAW) has won the 2012 IBA Encanto Pro in rampy 4-6 foot waves at Middles Beach today. The 2x World Champion defeated wildcard Ruben “Babby” Quinones (PR) in the final with a total heat score of 16.55 vs 12.70.
After the final Quinones was carried and cheered up the beach by his friends and fans as he flew the Puerto Rican flag with pride.
When asked about his road to the final, Hubbard explained: “I was in focus mode all day. I was trying not to think about the title race or be too distracted by Winnies performance. It was hard, because he was killing it.”
On his road to the final, Hubbard defeated Andrew Lester (AUS) in Round 6 with 19 vs 14.21 in what can only be described as the performance of the event, scoring the only perfect 10 point ride of the men’s GSS event and backing it up with a near perfect 9 point ride to post the highest total heat score of the event. In the quarterfinal, he took down an inform Jared Houston (ZAF) 17.38 vs 16.7 who put up an excellent fight, especially in dying moments of the heat. The Brazilian Eder Luciano stood his ground and showed why he deserves to be in the top 16, but was stumped when the Hawaiian needed a big score and kept his calm as time ran out by launching a risky air-roll-spin in the final minute of the heat to take the win.
Hubbard added, “the waves and conditions were good today, so I did not have to worry about what I needed to do to advance through heats, I just went out and surfed like I would when I free surf.”
The Hawaiian clinched his 3rd GSS event victory today, rocketing him back into the lead on the rankings, putting the pressure back onto Dave Winchester (AUS) who will have to improve on a 3rd place finish if he is to challenge Hubbard for the 2012 world title.
The updated rankings after the 2012 IBA Encanto Pro (Best 5 results)
1 Jeff Hubbard Hawaii 8440
2 Dave Winchester Australia 8380
3 Guilherme Tamega Brazil 7600
4 Pierre Louis Costes France 7360
5 Mitch Rawlins Australia 6400
5 Mark McCarthy Sth Africa 6400
7 Jared Houston Sth Africa 6060
8 Ben Player Australia 6020
9 Amaury Lavernhe Reunion 5660
10 Mike Stewart Hawaii 5520
11 Andrew Lester Australia 5440
12 Magno Passos Brazil 5140
13 Alex Uranga Basque 5060
14 Uri Valadao Brazil 5020
15 Eder Luciano Brazil 4920
16 Sam Bennett Australia 4760
The 2012 world title race will now be decided at the 8th and final event on the 2012 IBA GSS calendar, the NMD/VS Fronton Pro 2012 which will be held at el Fronton in the Canary Islands from the 7th to the 16th of December.
Go to www.ibaworldtour.com for the detailed story on the 2012 IBA world title race and make sure you watch the NMD/VS Fronton Pro 2012 live at http://ibaworldtour.com/live/ to see who will be crowned the 2012 IBA World Champion.
Check into the (IBA) International Bodyboarding Association website and IBA Facebook or follow IBA on Twitter for all the updates.
