Does turning pro take all the fun out of sport?
I was drawn to a Sam George article on my internet feed this week.
Sam is an ex-editor of both the Surfer and Surfing Magazine (USA) and a fabulous writer, so when one of his stories pops up, I am keen to read it.
Sam was debating whether competition surfing could suck some of the fun out of the sport.
He was looking at the Bonsoy Pro at Snapper Rocks in Australia.
Aside from the main pro event, a legends heat was surfed as an addon at the end of the day’s competition.
Why was the side event more enjoyable than the main competition?
Gillmore, Fanning, Parkinson, Slater and Occhilupo, all ex-world champions, surfed this display heat.
What Sam saw in response to this heat lead to him putting pen to paper.
The level of surfing in the display heat was not as cutting edge as the main competition, yet it gathered more response from spectators, judges and positive response from the normally acerbic internet commentators.
The display surfers were out for fun and clearly enjoying themselves, more than they were desperately trying to win.
Sam suggests that the problem with a winner is that there is always a loser. It is a zero sum game.
This writer sees it potentially worse than that.
In a contest of 100 surfers there is one winner and 99 losers, but in the display heat there was a completely different vibe and many picked up on it.
Sam comments that co-operation is a different universe from competition and surfing is supposed to be fun, at least in the family and fun arena where it originated.
A Swedish proverb comes to mind: Trouble shared is halved, joy shared is doubled.
I wonder how cut-and-thrust competition surfing fits into the Swedish outlook.
There is a philosophy that if you want to live the dream, find what you love and make that your work. You will never have to “work” another day.
I am not so sure.
I also love fishing, but I am told go commercial and a lot of love escapes.
Physical intimacy is a joy, but when money starts changing hands for those kinds of relationships, fun may be departing and something could be going wrong.
Turning surfing into a professional and paying career might start to put a heavy tax on the fun component.
Andre Agassi said he hated tennis and would not let his children play. His wife at the time, Steffi Graf, agreed.
What a pity.
In this month’s most recent ISA World Junior Championships a young lady surfer from Portugal completely lost her marbles and made a colossal unsportsmanlike interference on her Australian opposition, completely besmirching herself and her team on the live worldwide internet.
Juxtaposed against this in a recent SA schools cricket match a young batsman was on 99 runs for the last ball of the match.
Not finding a good connection, the ball was too soon in the hands of the opposing wicket keeper. He declined to take the bails and signalled the batsman home for his 100.
Granted, the wicketkeeper’s team had won, but the records reflect the last batsman got his ton. What a gesture.
This is part of the joy of competition.
It can showcase excellence, sportsmanship and character.
From personal experience this writer finds it useful to have goals to work for.
It forces me to get out of bed, run, swim, cycle, surf, paddle, cycle and cross-train if I know I have SA Championships in August for example.
This is the Japanese concept of Ikigai.
While I am doing this I am invariably engaged with other likeminded health enthusiasts.
If you read up on this or hang out with people like Greg Emslie you might learn: “Don’t let your wins go to your head, don’t let your losses go to your heart”.
To pick a credo from Gonubie Primary School: “Here we learn for life ”— Sport is a good arena to learn how to suffer life’s wins and losses.
I asked SA surfing champion Tom Lindhorst for his opinion on the Sam George article.
Tom loves to compete, but he is more serious about his business career.
“Life is serious enough,” he says. “Don’t let all the fun escape out of surfing. It is supposed to be fun.” He agrees with Sam. Hopefully we can all hold our sportsmanship under pressure, but fun? This is why I ride a 9’1” longboard.
See you in the water.