Announced: The World Surf League declares war on people who surf!

Yer kind ain't wanted 'round these parts.

This all started with Paul Speaker, some five or so years ago in a rose petal scented Santa Monica backroom. For it was then and it was there that the Association of Surfing Professionals was given, free of charge, to a small group of men backed by publishing magnate Dirk Ziff, who turned around and installed Mr. Speaker as the new CEO.

The name was changed, two years later, from Association of Surfing Professionals  to World Surf League and Mr. Speaker made the media rounds, visiting surf core favorites like Bloomberg and Fox Business wherein he extolled his broad vision for the future.

Surfing would be bigger than the NFL.

Hundreds of millions of people, billions even, were clamoring for the show.

Mr. Speaker did not surf.

Soon after he stepped down/was removed and Dirk Ziff acted as interim CEO while searching for a new candidate.

Mr. Ziff does not surf.

The committee found one in the ranks of professional tennis, a bright star named Sophie Goldschmidt.

Ms. Goldschmidt does not surf.

Then the hiring floodgates opened and Beth Greve was tapped as Chief Commercial Officer.

Ms. Greve did not surf.

While Erik Logan was given the title President of Content and Media.

Mr. Logan does not surf.

Worse, he SUPs.

Now, I understand that surfing helps absolutely no one be better at business. I think it could even be argued that some of the surf industry’s troubles over the past few decades were actually because everyone surfed. But I would continue to argue that surfing in the water on a surfboard sans paddle is essential, to… understanding why it all matters, what it’s all about, how it creeps into the cracks of busted lives and refuses to let go. Ever. Bottom line be damned.

Surfing is special, it matters and it belongs to surfers.

Now, a few hires outside of the ranks, some fresh insight, would have been applauded but the tone deafness has reached a point where I think the only reasonable conclusion is that the World Surf League’s upper management actively dislikes people who surf.

People who surf are the “grumpy locals” despised by Ziff. People who surf own brands being so pressured by the League that they’ve decided to give up sponsoring events. People who surf work at magazines, websites, podcasts, slaving for love rather than money. People who surf spend more time thinking about surf, traveling to surf, eating, drinking, sleeping surf than is healthy but cannot be marketed to because it ain’t a market. It’s a life.

People who surf don’t belong in the World Surf League.

Why the disdain? I don’t know. Maybe Speaker, Ziff, et. al. were made fun of by surfers in school and this is their grand revenge. Maybe they lost girlfriends to surfers even though they were all cool jocks. I really don’t know and can’t imagine I’ll get the opportunity to ask but am going hold out hope for Erik Logan. I’m going to  hold out hope that he is brave enough to come play with us and laugh because he also rides a longboard.

Maybe close enough.