NSSA Decides To Rejoin Surfing America

“This is a tremendous and historic day for Surfing America and the sport of surfing,” said Mike Gerard, Surfing America’s executive director. “NSSA is an extremely important piece to the American surfing landscape. And, as Surfing America operates under a philosophy of inclusion, to have such a large and prestigious organization outside of the system was troubling.”

NSSA executive director, Janice Aragon, mirrored the sentiment. “I believe we are making a very positive statement to the sport,” she stated. “The NSSA is committed to promoting Surfing America and its mission in a highly visible way—and we’re more determined than ever to help and encourage the USA Surf Team to achieve gold!”

NSSA has agreed to join forces with other Surfing America Member Organizations to promote open communications, unify the national structure, and to help achieve greater international results for American athletes. As a result, all members of NSSA will also become members of Surfing America and will be entitled free basic member benefits. “The NSSA truly believes a united approach with Surfing America will benefit everyone involved,” added Aragon. “And we look forward to feeding our best athletes into the Surfing America system. We’re all here for the same reason–and that’s to serve the sport we love and to contribute to the lifelong success of its aspiring athletes.”

Other Member Organizations include the Eastern Surfing Association (ESA), the Western Surfing Association (WSA), the Texas Gulf Surfing Association (TGSA), and the Hawaii Surfing Association (HSA).

Additionally, as a result of NSSA’s reengagement, dozens of qualified NSSA athletes will be invited to participate in the 2009 SIMA Surfing America USA Championships. NSSA, like all Member Organizations, will have sole discretion with regard to determining which of its athletes receive invitations. Other paths to the USA Championships include the new WSA Prime Series as well as through WSA, ESA, TGSA, and HSA.

The 2009 SIMA Surfing America USA Championships are scheduled for August 25-30, 2009 at the Huntington Beach Pier, CA.