GB Surfing will support and enhance the development of technically better young British surfers through financing specialist pathway coaches in each of the Home Nations.
In line with GB Surfing’s recent progression strategy to be medal competitive by 2032, the four new coaching appointments will play a crucial part in aligning the individual Home Nation pathways to give young surfers throughout Great Britain equal access to elite coaching and the tools needed to progress into the GB Surfing Progression Squad.
GB Surfing will either fully fund or primarily fund a part-time Head Coach in the Channel Islands, England, Scotland and Wales. The coach will be employed by the individual Home Nation but have technical oversight by GB Surfing. This will include the development of a long-term Junior Development Plan that will provide the framework for collaborative elite junior coaching in all the Home Nations.
Surfing England has been the first to recruit for the role and recently announced the appointment of Beau Bromham. Beau has previously represented GB at the World Junior Championships and since moved into coaching running a successful high performance coaching programme in North Devon and being part of the coaching team that helped Team England secure three gold medals at the 2022 Eurosurf Championships. He has been coaching for eight years, holds ISA L2 performance coaching award and has a degree in Strength and Conditioning.
Joel Gray, Performance Pathways Manager at GB Surfing, will work with the home nations to deliver the coaching programme and the long-term development plans of junior surfers. Talking about the investment by GB Surfing, Joel, said;
“There are some exceptional people involved in junior surfing across the Home Nations, and we are excited to help harness their talent to create a sustainable world level coaching programme that not only pumps out elite level surfers but also highly skilled and experienced surf coaches.
“The surfers competing in Brisbane 2032 might just be starting out on their surfing journey, so we need to provide them with the necessary support and structure from an early age to maximise their ability and build on their potential. A key part of this will be to upskill the coaches and we will launch a Coaches Working Group to aid with their development.
“It is fantastic to see Beau Bromham appointed as the Surfing England coach. There were some really strong applicants, but Beau is an excellent coach and I look forward to working closely with him, and developing future GB surfers.”
Ben Powis, Surfing England CEO, commented:
“This is a tangible impact from the growing partnership between GB and home nations, and we’re stoked to be leading the charge with Team England Juniors and the recruitment of this jointly funded role.
“We definitely have the junior talent in this country to be pushing for future CT spots and Olympic places, and with Beau leading the charge on developing our coaching programme with our amazing volunteer coaches in support, we’re going to be giving the crew every chance of success.”