The New Lost Generation.
I am currently on an overseas surf vacation and enjoying myself thoroughly. Fear of Covid-19 still crackles in the humid air and tourists have not returned leaving normally crowded breaks near empty.
Wonderful.
And today found me bobbing alongside two locals who waved for me to join them in the prime location.
I happily acquiesced.
One, an eighteen-year-old, told me he was an aspiring professional surfer, sponsored by a local shaper etc. Looking forward to being able to travel the world, competing in iconic locations etc.
I told him that was very fine at which point he complimented me on my surf attire.
I was wearing an official tank top singlet from the World Surf League Longboard Classic, New York. Devon Howard generously gifted me. Coincidentally, I was not riding a midlength but rather a 5’8 Mayhem Bottom Feeder quad.
In any case, I thanked him and told him it came from the World Surf League. He scrunched up his face and repeated “World Surf League?”
I nodded.
He pondered this “World Surf League” while nodding me into a very fine right.
When I arrived back to the takeoff spot he said something like, “I maybe have seen the WSL logo thing before.”
I told him he wasn’t missing much but… CEO Erik Logan, turning the spotlight over to you, concerning, no? I must say, without a bold move, very soon, an entire generation of professional surfers will be lost.
Who then can you fleece?
What’s the business model?