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CLUB HISTORY

The first idea I had of putting a kneeboard club together actually started some 8 years ago. The last kneeboard club in south oz had a great following, and at its peak had 30 members, it even ran it’s own state titles in the last year, but the club disbanded around 1990. For about 6 years not much happened so in late 1996, early 1997 I started to collect names and managed to organise a few surf’s with 3 or 4 guy’s. I then moved interstate working for 5 years and when I returned I set about forming a new club again. In 2001 The Southern Kneeboard Association was formed with a group of 8 enthusiastic kneelo’s.

I for one knew that there were plenty of kneeboarders still surfing, I just had to get the word out and about in the community, but believe me, there were not too many people who were willing to agree with me. I wish I had a dollar for every time I heard "Kneeboarding is dead in this state", "You never see any kneelo’s anymore", and my favourite "You do what ? Is that behind a boat ?".

But it didn't take long at all to get a few names together and before I knew it I had 8 guys bursting at the seams to get a club up and running. The one thing I love about kneeboarders is that we don ’t kneeboard for the ego trip, we do it because we are passionate about surfing and the art of kneeboarding. So there wasn't much of an issue for me when forming the club to be based on just being a group and getting back to just enjoying surfs together and going away on trips. If anybody wanted to compete they had the option of joining Surfing Australia or Kneeboard Surfing Australia.

By the end of our first year we had 12 members, a quarterly newsletter and 2 main sponsors, The Loan Arranger and Allso Eyewear. Without doubt these 2 sponsors showed a lot of faith in sponsoring us from our inception, which has set the association up in a very strong position to continue long into the future. The highlight for the year was our 5 day trip to Victoria, where we scored great waves from Portland right through to Port Campbell. As with all trips away with a group, many funny things occurred, so many of the members have gained nicknames through the club( check the member profiles section ). I would like to thank Denis “Terminator” Finn for organising the trip.

In our second year we gained 2 more sponsors, Innes National Park Trading Post and Sealink. Once again we had our regular monthly meets and trips away, with the ever-expanding newsletter. The highlight being our trip to Kangaroo Island. We scored good waves and had a great laugh, with a couple more guys earning well over due nicknames. Another big thanks to Pete “Style Master” Granton for sorting the trip out for the association

At this stage we are looking to have another strong year and with the web site up and running, it will enable us to become more accessible to many more kneelo’s and just as importantly, the general surfing community who may not otherwise come into contact with us.

I would like to thank the following people:

  • Vice President Pete Granton (Stylemaster)

  • Secretary/Treasurer Dave Manley (D1) 

  • Allan Easter (Bunny)

  • Andrew Van Der Stelt (Nose wipe)

  • Cade Taylor (Slasher)

  • Dan Polson (Mr Olympiad)

  • Denis Finn (Terminator)

  • Emma Polson (Emmskie)

  • Geoff Ferguson (Groova)

  • Jacob Hadcroft (Jake / Haddy)

  • John Heath (Sneaky J)

  • Kim Lasscock (Pockets)

  • Liam Finn

  • Max Simionato (Maxi / Cornflakes)

  • Mick Hardick (The brickie)

  • Paul Dreyer (I haven’t got a nickname yet !!!)

  • Steve Beach (Fanglo)

  • Tom Beach

  • Wayne Granger (Uncle Fester)


Without these members the Southern Kneeboard Association would be a very dull place indeed!!

Phil Arthur (Pinebox)
President