Very cryptic.
I don’t know about you, but I like our Dear General Secretary World Surf League CEO Sophie Goldschmidt. We haven’t spoken much, just a few pleasantries at Kelly Slater’s Surf Ranch, but… I don’t know. There’s something about her. A spark. And glimmer. Like she could pitch an office chair from Santa Monica’s High Castle in a fit of explosive rage. Like she could have all her enemies killed overnight and never lose that little smile.
Anyhow, she gave a wide-ranging interview yesterday to SportsPro and let’s tuck into some highlights.
On today… “The reasons I took the role have been even more firmly reinforced. The sport’s at an incredibly exciting tipping point. Momentum is building in all sorts of ways. I’ve pretty much loved every minute of it.”
On growth potential… “We have so many different aspects to surfing, both the high-performance, elite end of the sport but it transitions into lifestyle, I think, more authentically than any other sport. That’s a real opportunity, and then also growing the profile of these athletes.”
On the Olympics… “I think we both need each other. The Olympics has done an amazing job, especially over the last few Games, and they’re evolving all the time. But I think they’re aware that there are certain segments of the population out there that maybe don’t resonate as much with it. And I think surfing definitely offers something very different.”
On wave tanks… “I think it’s important to state that the ocean has never been more important to us; the variability, the fact that [the athletes are] also competing with Mother Nature, as well as each other, makes the sport truly unique. But this is very complementary for all of the reasons I mentioned – it allows us to go to markets we could never have dreamed of, to be properly programmable from a TV perspective, to engage with audiences in different ways.”
On building two wave tanks in Paris… “We have one in Lemoore, which is our pilot facility. To be honest, we never thought we’d have events there but it’s just gone so well and the technology has become so robust that we are using that. But we’re building one in Florida; we’re also going to be building one in Tokyo, in Australia, in Brazil, likely LA, and we’re looking at building a couple in Paris.”
On being an agent of change… “I think I’m able to be a bit of an agent for change – again, the timing is right. But I’m not afraid to take some risks and be innovative and when you’re trying to punch above your weight, which surfing is as a sport – you know, we’re an emerging sport – we can have that challenger mentality. We have the flexibility because of the structure to act that way, which is incredibly exciting.”
All very great but tucked into the middle of the interview was a very cryptic passage, one that I’m having difficulty in really nailing down the meaning. Would you like to try with me? Ok here we go.
“It’s always been known as a kind of counterculture-type sport and progressive for different, maybe political or other reasons. But actually, considering it’s all about the ocean and nature, they’re really open-minded. I mean, the athletes have been fantastic. We’ve changed a lot, we’ve tried a lot this year and they’ve really embraced it, which is great. That hasn’t always been my experience in sports so that’s a real positive for what we’re trying to do.”
Got it? What does this first sentence mean to you?
“It’s always been known as a kind of counterculture-type sport and progressive for different, maybe political or other reasons.”
To me it would mean that surfers are a little rebellious and… no, throwing the “maybe political or other reasons” in really confuses though it confuses less when the following sentence is included. “But actually, considering it’s all about the ocean and nature, they’re really open-minded.”
To contrast “counter-culture type progressive for different maybe political or other reasons” with “But actually, considering it’s all about the ocean and nature, they’re really open-minded.” can only mean one thing.
Our Dear General Secretary Sophie Goldschmidt believes surfers are far-right and probably racist, sexist, ageist too but with hearts of gold.
Yeah?
Is there another reading?
Help!
“progressive” is code for Socialism. Socialism is great, why just look at how well Venezuela is doing…..
problem is when it gets to Australia it gets called kilograms so its actually only about half that number.
previously they were a bunch of stoners but in more recent times they have transitioned into brown nosers who will do anything to get on the WSL wagon. either way its pretty easy to get em to do what ever the fuck I want.
Have you seen “century of the self” doco from bbc?
Where you at party Pete!
Over at Ben’s https://uploads.disquscdn.c…
Sounds like everybody’s having fun spending Dirk’s money….
Fucking bean counter culture
Genius
if one feels it is a ““….. a kind of counterculture-type sport ‘ why not present it visually/graphically that way? its NOT football. seems the main stream “sport” approach is helping kill what attracts potential new viewers to surfing in the first place.
https://uploads.disquscdn.c…
Soooo we’re all accepting surfing is a sport now?
Figure skating, but less cold.
Darts, but less fat.
no. surfing is the only “professional” “sport where not a single active “athlete ” has ever completed college. just sayin.
I feel she is a conservative republican, saying that surfers have always been anti-“live to work”, and more of a “work to live” type of people, which smacks the face of the American dream (work your ass off to buy house and car!) and that their “progressive” views stem from being socialists (health care for everyone, clean oceans, etc.) and possibly taking all kinds of drugs, mainly marijuana. But, when she got to know surfers, she discovered that surfers are very cool.
Maybe you’re cool… some of us less so.
Or this:
“ but it transitions into lifestyle, I think, more authentically than any other sport. That’s a real opportunity, ”
Read: ‘Advertisers please take note’.
“Real business opportunities”
“Athleets”
“Properly programmable”
“Markets”
“Lots of fun, and good for the soul??”
Funk Sophie, and her thinning hair.
Maybe I’m reading too much into this, but it almost seems to be saying “surfing has been dominated too long by the grumpy local — we’ve found a weak point in the sport/hobby’s elite athletes that we’re going to fully exploit to herald in the adult learner apocalypse to our own, nihilistic benefit.”
Yeh they welcoming in every loser looking for a new identity or tryna up their social media cache.
With a name like Party Pete, I’m sure you’re not a lame dude at the post epic surf party.
Yeh but no pics makin their way into social media tho
One of the best paradoxes of leadership is a leader’s need to be both stubborn and open-minded.
You don’t have to be a surfer to love BeachGrit.
No, no, let’s do the whole paragraph:
“It’s always been known as a kind of counterculture-type sport and progressive for different, maybe political or other reasons. But actually, considering it’s all about the ocean and nature, they’re really open-minded. I mean, the athletes have been fantastic. We’ve changed a lot, we’ve tried a lot this year and they’ve really embraced it, which is great. That hasn’t always been my experience in sports so that’s a real positive for what we’re trying to do.”
Read: Surfers were and liked to be thought of as a fringe-element, kind of radical, eschewing conventions and society, and they enjoyed drugs, not working, blah blah. I mean, some of them liked to think of themselves as downright mystics, looking out into the sea, backs turned on their fellow man. BUT not this lot I work with now! They do whatever the fuck we tell them, and they like it. We’ll even tell them, “get out of the ocean–drive to the wave pool–perform your tricks here now!” They’re so passive, so tame, they obey with no complaints. Turns out surfers are mostly about the scratch and trying to make a conventional buck, “so that’s a real positive for what we’re trying to do.”
Fucken hippie capitalists.
https://kernelmag.dailydot….
No one sells out like a hippie.
Theres a shit load in byron
They have embraced it because the WSL have the surfers by the balls. Do as your told or fuck off
Like trained seals…..
Her only real goal is to turn a profit. Nothing should surprise us in that pursuit. She’s not sentimental or sympathetic- and that’s very much by design. Posturing towards the long game is simply posturing. My hunch is she’ll be gone after the Olympics.
Start a betting pool for Dubbya Ass Elle employee tenures! I’m in…
Who jumps ship first , Sophie or E-Lo ?
We’ve already seen Elo jump ship many times via his Instagram. I just hope that his boat hasn’t caused any injuries on its free rides towards shore
I’ve seen Free Ride but If you see Logan’s , Run .
I don’t see much jumping. When they start falling it won’t be out of choice.
The laws of gravity are very, very strict. https://uploads.disquscdn.c…
Your right Harry . The Inverse Square Law will be no stranger to either of them when the bell tolls .
https://www.youtube.com/wat…
Mixing Pop and Politics ?
Up vote for Billy Bragg .
« The revolution is just a tee shirt away
Waiting for the great leap forwards «
Levi Stubb’s Tears and St Swithin’s Day. All else is commentary.
Ya, I think that’s what there holding out for, the big O. If the Wsl can’t make a go of it by then, who knows, Dirk might pull the plug and stop the bleeding…
The WSL wholeheartedly embraced the counterculture of losing tons of money without any viable plan to ever recoup a single penny.
What’s truly rich is that Elo is their current attempt at a “viable plan” .. You can’t script this!
Up until quite recently politics have been trying to fuck surfing and tell surfers to get fucked . It was okay for the rich dudes to stroll around midweek on the Golf Course or get pissed at the Yacht Club but not for the little man ( with big fucking shoulders ) to lay off the tools , go surfing and have fun ?
Can’t sign those big high roller contracts in the water
But you can from tavi while your wife gets tagged by the boatmen
Clearly Sophie has been surfing around Orange County. And I’d say that “far right and probably racist, sexist, ageist too but with hearts of gold” is a very accurate description.