As of Jan. 1, the new national governing body for surfing in the U.K. is Surfing GB. The new board, led by Chris Thomson, wants it to start with a clean slate after allegations of poor management and various legal issues. Surfing GB replaces the British Surfing Association, which announced in December that it had been declared insolvent and put it into voluntary liquidation
Thomson was elected last July as chairman after numerous management changes that followed the dismissal three year ago of the former executive director, Karen Walton. One of the issues was apparently an anonymous letter that led Sport England to withhold its financial support for the former Brit Surf until it would put its house in order.
Details could not be learnt, but some of them may transpire at a meeting called by the liquidators for Jan. 19 at Truro, near the organization's head office in Cornwall. All the 1,300-odd members of the BSA, which include more than 50 surf clubs, have been convened to the meeting.
The new Surfing GB is expected to obtain the support of Sport England and will be a registered charity, working to improve infrastructure and participation in surfing. Any assets of the BSA will be distributed to its creditors, so the new organization will be starting from scratch. It does not expect to have any cash on hand until the new fiscal year starts in April. Members of the BSA have been asked to transfer their memberships to Surfing GB as soon as possible.
