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≡ USA SURFING NGB HEARING ≡
After U.S. Ski & Snowboard exited the competition to be named as the recognized National Governing Body for surfing in the United States, the former governing body – USA Surfing – had its second hearing with the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee’s compliance group on Tuesday afternoon.
The online session ran a little over 90 minutes, with lots of charts, slides and testimonials all underscoring the same theme: the newly reconstituted USA Surfing is ready, willing and able to perform as the U.S. NGB for the sport.
It gave back its status as the USOPC’s recognized NGB for surfing in 2021 amid significant financial and governance issues. But in the interim, while it was re-organized, it continued developing surfers and Americans Carissa Moore (Tokyo 2020) and Caroline Marks (Paris 2024) won Olympic golds.
The initial report was from USOPC Senior Auditor Travis Williams, who explained to the Compliance Review Group the results of the latest USA Surfing review:
“Of the 21 applicable standards. USA Surfing was compliant with nine, eight were determined as needs-improvement – three of those needs-improvement were immediately remediated and closed during field work – with three additional items being deficient and one marked as undetermined.”
He noted the areas of concern: athlete representation, athlete safety and financial capability. He added that since the audit took place, “we have received support from USA Surfing for eight of the nine current open audit findings,” but the full reviews have not been completed yet.
So there is work to do, but USA Surfing appears to be chasing down the open issues.
The federation then launched into a detailed presentation, led by chief executive Becky Fleischauer, who explained:
“Today, our focus is simple, demonstrating that USA Surfing is prepared to serve as a surfer-first National Governing Body, one that is aligned, resourced and ready to produce medal success and elevate American surfers on the Olympic stage and across every pathway.”
That was followed by seven more speakers, offering in-depth presentations on every aspect of USA Surfing: athlete development and support, finance, governance, programming and a lot more. The presentations noted:
● The federation believes that with the most recent submittals, it is now compliant with 18 of the 21 standards areas, with two needing improvement and one deficient.
● Funding has completely turned, with $750,000 delivered and $3.5 million committed through 2028 by a private-sector “investor alliance” which will assist USA Surfing in raising even more money.
● High-performance funding for the sport is scheduled to be $1.105 million for 2026, supporting 64 athletes across six International Surfing Association disciplines (of which two are Olympic), with a schedule of nine qualifying events, four training camps and three international scrimmages.
● High-performance funding, raised by USA Surfing, will rise to $1.377 million for 2027 and $1.612 million for 2028, or $4.094 million for the sprint through LA28. This is in addition to any athlete-development grants from the USOPC.
● Attorney Sarah Pflipsen, for 14 years a member of the USOPC’s athlete support structure and now assisting USA Surfing, detailed the wholesale changes to the organization, stating
“I have personally witnessed not only athlete focus and compliant operational, managerial and financial capabilities, but also a cultural shift that gives me – a person who used to be in your very seat – the confidence to know that this isn’t the organization that was decertified many years ago.”
USA Surfing received a full-throated endorsement from the Executive Director of the International Surfing Association, Bob Fasulo (USA), who told the review team:
“As the IOC-recognized International Federation for the sport of surfing, we’ve already gone on record to state that there is currently only one organization that fulfills the requirements, according to Rule 29 of the Olympic Charter, to operate as the NGB for surfing in the United States, and that organization is the ISA-recognized member, USA Surfing.”
Fleischauer closed:
“USA Surfing stands ready to deliver as a strong, collaborative, surf-centered NGB. By re-certifying USA Surfing, you will secure a capable, proven and unified partner for LA28 and beyond. You will strengthen a fully-funded pathway, designed around surfer’s needs.”
There was a half-hour of questions – some quite pointed – about USA Surfing’s funding and staffing, but there were comprehensive answers provided.
The USOPC’s Compliance Review Group has the next task, to sift through the work of its auditors and the USA Surfing responses and decide whether to recommend a USOPC designation of USA Surfing as once again the National Governing Body for the sport.
It was clear from the session that the USA Surfing of today has been significantly upgraded from the dysfunctional, 2021 model. It will be some weeks or months before the USOPC’s review machinery will be able to decide whether to go forward with the revived USA Surfing, or to offer some other solution to this long-running drama.
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