Is there something we have missed out on the website that you wish to know?  Then this is the place to find it.  All your questions answered in one somewhat huge list.  If you still can’t find what you are looking for then perhaps you should make contact with us and your question may get added to this list.

How many New Zealanders surf?
Sport NZ estimates that over 140,000 New Zealanders surf.

What is Surfing New Zealand’s legal status?
Surfing New Zealand is an incorporated society non profit sporting organisation.

What is Surfing New Zealand’s Mission Statement?
Surfing New Zealand’s mission is “Through effective leadership, develop and promote quality opportunities for all surfers at all levels."

Surfing New Zealand Management and Board?
Surfing New Zealand has three full time paid staff of an Executive Officer, Development Manager and Administration Manager. Surfing New Zealand board is made up of six members that govern the organisation.

Who is Surfing New Zealand accountable to?
Surfing New Zealand is accountable to Sport NZ as the government agency for sport in New Zealand and our stakeholders.

How can I contact the New Zealand Secondary School Sports Council?
Online at www.nzsssc.org.nz. By email nzsssc@xtra.co.nz.

Where can I get information about the Sports Disputes Tribunal?
The New Zealand Sports Disputes Tribunal has its own web site at: www.sportstribunal.org.nz.

Who are the 17 Regional Sports Trusts in New Zealand?
A list of 17 Regional Sports Trusts can be viewed on Sport NZ's website.

Does Surfing New Zealand have an anti-doping policy?
Yes. Surfing New Zealand has an anti doping policy that can be found in the resources section of about SNZ.

Why did you stop calling yourself the New Zealand Surfing Association and why are you called Surfing New Zealand?
In 1997 Surfing New Zealand took on the task of creating a brand around the organisation.  This involved making the organisation’s name short, sharp and developing a logo that represented surfing and the culture of New Zealand.

How is Surfing New Zealand funded?
Surfing New Zealand has several sources of funding.  Predominantly the organisation is funded by partners/sponsors including Sport NZ, Hyundai Motors NZ, the Health Sponsorsip Council and Water Saftey NZ.  Surfing New Zealand generates income through the sanctioning and management of events.  Surfing New Zealand also applies for funding through a number of community/gaming trusts.

Does Surfing New Zealand receive funding from High Performance Sport New Zealand?
Surfing is a non Olympic and Commonwealth Games sport. High performance funding is achievable through top placings at ISA world events where the event meets High Performance Sport NZ criteria.

What sporting scholarships are available to individuals?
ISA Scholarships are available to surfers on an annual basis. For information on these scholarships please head to the ISA website.

How can clubs/surfers get funding for local initiatives?
The Department of Internal Affairs website lists community/gaming trusts which distribute grants to community groups, generally for charitable or amateur sporting purposes.

The surfing community has a huge industry that can be approached for sponsorship for your club or individual events or surfers. Check out list of affiliated industry that Surfing New Zealand work with to promote surfing in New Zealand.

How do I join a boardriders club in my area?
Please contact the Boardriders club in your area. All contact details are on the Clubs/Orgnaisations page.

How can I contact an affiliated Boardrider Club or Regional Sports Organisation?
Surfing New Zealand has a broad network of boardrider clubs through out New Zealand. There are also several regional sporting organisations such as the South Island Surfing Association and Surfing Taranaki. View an up to date list of affiliated boardriders clubs and orgnaisations.

How do I start a boardriders club in my area?
Information about starting a club is available through our resources page under About SNZ. In this section there are a number of useful documents about the following programmes:

The Running Sport 1 programme is aimed at club level administrative activity - primarily the club committee, which is generally responsible for both the policymaking and operational aspects of the club.

Running Sport 2 is the second level of Sport NZ's sports leadership programme - targeted at regional and national sports organisations.

Does New Zealand have an official representative team?
Surfing New Zealand sends teams to all ISA international events where applicable. These include:

- World Surfing Games (bienniel)
- World Junior Surfing Championship
- World Kneeboard Championship (bienniel)
- World Masters Championship
- World Bodyboard Championship
- World Stand Up Paddle and Paddleboard Championship

All of these events are sanctioned by the International Surfing Association.

As well as the official New Zealand teams, individual athletes compete on the Association of Surfing Professionals Tours being:

- ASP World Tour (Men's and Women's)
- ASP World Qualifying Series (Men's and Women's)
- ASP World Pro Junior Series (Boys and Girls)

Where does New Zealand rank in the world of surfing?
Check out the history page for a list of current and past world rankings.

Where can I get information about training and employment opportunities within the Surfing New Zealand?
Surfing New Zealand employee a number of staff during summer. All event management at sanctioned events are paid for their services. Areas of employment include event management positions, judges, coaches and team managers. Contact Surfing New Zealand for employment opportunities.

Where can I find information on Maori Surfing?
Head over to the Maori Surfing page on the website.

How can I contact Surfing New Zealand?
A full list of contacts is provided on the contact us page.

How do ratings work?
The rating of events differs according to the amount of prize money on offer but range between 1 – 6 stars. A surfer's year-end rating is determined by his/her combined scores for the season. Depending on the number of events in each series, surfers are allowed throwaway events when tallying the cumulative scores. That means they are able to drop one or two of their lowest scoring results or not count events that they don’t attend if there are more than five events in a series.

What is the judging criteria?
Waves are scored on a 1 to 10 scale with 1 being the lowest and 10 being a perfect ride.
Surfers are judged according to a single criteria.

0 – 2 - Poor
2 – 4 - Fair
4 – 6 - Average
6 – 8 - Good
8 – 10 - Excellent

"A surfer must perform radical controlled manoeuvres in the critical section of a wave with Speed, Power and Flow to maximize scoring potential. Innovative / Progressive surfing as well as Variety of Repertoire (manoeuvres), will be taken into consideration when rewarding points for waves ridden.

The surfer who executes this criteria with the maximum Degree of Difficulty and Commitment on the waves shall be rewarded with the higher scores."

How many waves are scored?
All surfers' scores are the total of their two highest-scored waves. This does not change regardless of which discipline they compete in.

Does wave scoring differ between the Men’s, Women’s Bodyboard and Longboard, SUP events?
No. Wave scoring does not differ between the various disciplines. They are all judged from the same criteria.

Do you have to qualify to compete in national surfing events?
No. All Surfing New Zealand events are open for anybody to enter. There are limits to the number of entries due to time constraints but generally the entry numbers to not exceed this limitation.

Where can I find the rules for competing in surfing events?
Surfing New Zealand have rule books for sale for $15.00. Contact Surfing New Zealand to purchase a rule book.

How do I become an accredited surfing coach?
Surfing New Zealand runs coaching courses (surfing and stand up paddleboarding) throughout New Zealand. The courses are internationally recognised meaning that passing the course gives you the opportunity to coach surfers anywhere in the word.

The level one course concentrates on teaching coaches the basics in surfing and getting people to their feet. The level two course focuses on high performance and competition surfing as well as the business side of setting up surf schools. 

How do I become an accredited judge?
Surfing New Zealand run judging courses throughout New Zealand. The courses are internationally recognised meaning that passing the course gives you the opportunity to judge surfers anywhere in the world.

Where can I find publications regarding sport management?
Check out the resources on the about SNZ page or go to Sport NZ's website for a comprehensive list of downloadable publications.

Website queries
All website queries can be directed to Ben Kennings - benkennings@surfingnz.co.nz.

If the information we hold about your Boardriders club is out of date, we can easily update that for you. Just send us an email.