Kuwait Among Newest Members Of International Surfing Association
Known more for its oil than its surf, tucked way up in the northwest corner of the Persian Gulf, Kuwait has about 300 miles of coastline, and it’s now one of the newest members of the International Surfing Association (ISA). Announced today, Kuwait, Romania and the British Virgin Islands are the organization’s newest member countries, making a total of 116 surfing nations around the world.
“The Kuwait Surf Committee strives to educate, inspire, and educate Kuwaiti surfers,” reads the announcement. “Their short- and long-term development goals include improving access to surfing in the country to attract new participants, securing better equipment and resources for surf training, establishing a dedicated surf training center in Kuwait and hosting more regional surf competitions and events."
The Mangaf beachbreak in Kuwait is one of the country’s more recognized surf spots. The surf season there is largely confined to the winter months when local winds generate small-scale wind swell.
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It may be even harder to score in Romania, which sits on the Black Sea in Eastern Europe. With only 150 miles of coastline, just like Kuwait, the county is dependent on local wind swell for the their surf. But unlike their Middle East counterpart, Romania’s surf scene is a little more established. They held their first annual national surf contest in 2018, and last year Romania’s Aris Voicu competed at the 2023 World Junior Surfing Championship in Brazil.
The British Virgin Islands have no problem with coastline, and there are some pretty amazing waves to be found around the island. By joining the ISA, which also serves as the governing body for the sport of surfing in the Olympic Games, they’ll look to build and strengthen their youth development programs, continue to grow their surfing infrastructure, as well as work towards preserving their valuable marine environment.
“It is especially pleasing to announce three members from three different continents that are non-traditional surf nations,” shared ISA President Fernando Aguerre. “This shows the power of surfing to engage with people in every part of the world who share our love of the ocean and nature.”
“I can’t wait to see more young women and men surfers from these three stunning nations take to the ocean, improve their skills and aim for the Olympics one day,” he adds.
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With more than 25 years of writing about surfing, the ocean and action sports, Jake Howard continues to share stories, profiles and issues that shape the surfing world. One of the premier subject-matter experts in the field today, he's savvy in the ways of print, digital and social media, his breadth of work is expansive. Getting his start writing Surfline surf reports and recording the phone reports for 976-SURF in the late '90s, Jake served as the managing editor for Surfer Magazine in the early 2000s before moving on to launch RedBullSurfing.com and cover surfing for ESPN and the X Games. Over the years, Jake has also enjoyed time behind the edit desk at The Surfer's Journal, as well as the World Surf League, where he worked as the Senior Editor for a number of years. Beyond producing editorial content, Jake has served as a digital marketer and copywriter for iconic surf brands such as Quiksilver, Roxy and Rip Curl. Writing thousands of pages of copy for Surfline, he has deep SEO experience as well. The surf columnist for the San Clemente Times, Jake continues to dedicate himself to the culture and history of the sport through his involvement with the Surfing Heritage and Culture Center in San Clemente.