Kim Bradley
Kim Bradley was known as the surfing sport activist in Indonesia, specially Bali at the 70's and now he talks about the government support of the development of surfing in this country. Kim believes that if surfing in Indonesia was to progress and it must have support from the government. In the past, former Bali governor Ida Bagus Mantra said “ Surfing is just in Bali” but now surfing is all over Indonesia because all areas have waves suitable for surfing.
Now that it is recognized that many provinces in Indonesia have waves good for surfing Kim believes that each province should have a surfing club or association that also coordinates with the tourism department to promote surfing. If every province had a surfing club it would be much easier for surfing to be recognized as a national sport which could then be included in the National Sport Competition (PON)
The government has started supporting surfing now as seen by competitions such as the Bupati Cup held at Canggu last year. The Quiksilver contest at Dompu was also supported by the Bupati as well as several other contests. As we concluded our chat Kim said “ 30 years ago there was noone surfing in Indonesia and now everyone ‘dances on the waves’, hopefully surfing can be recognized as a national sport and be included in National Sport Competition (PON)”
Bli Kacrut
This local Balinese senior surfer also talks about support from the government for the development of surfing in Indonesia that has the same idea with Kim Bradley. Surfing in Indonesia has developed rapidly, as seen by the number of contests now held in Indonesia which is also a contributing factor. Support from the government is also vital as the main supporters of surfing at the present time is the Surfing Industry. Bli Kacrut thinks that surfing must be included as a sport in PON (National Sport Competition) because there are now 7 provinces in Indonesia with waves suitable for surfing competitions. Almost all areas in Indonesia have waves good for surfing and clubs could be formed that report back to the national sport organization, so that they can be recognized and develop more like they have in Bali. Surfing also adds to the tourism potential in all areas. Perhaps surfing will be more recognized in Indonesia this year because Bali is hosting the “Asian Beach Games 2008” for the first time in October. Indonesia
has also chosen several athletes to compete in the games.
Bli Kacrut hopes that next year surfing will be included in Pre PON and he said that Indonesian people, especially surfers, love the beach and ocean so much. It’s feels just right to include surfing in the National Games Event like PON (National Sport Competition)
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