With the support from KiteThrills, Kawana State School on the Sunshine Coast has officially brought kiteboarding to their school, becoming the first school in Australia to do so. Kiteboarding will join the school’s elite aquatic programme, alongside surfing and other outdoor water sports. This is fantastic for kiteboarding in Australia.
So for the last few Friday afternoons, myself and Mike Walker from KiteThrills have been teaching the Kawana students out on the open beach of Bokarina. I was initially concerned about Mike and me teaching 15 students at one time, but they all picked the skills up so fast and literally taught themselves. Most of the students are seasoned surfers so they were so quick to grasp the concepts and get up on the board. It was so good to see them get up on the board and go down the beach, quickly run back upwind and give the kite to the next student.
I think that if other schools see the success of this kiteboarding program, they too will follow suit and bring kiteboarding to their own school. It would be such a massive boost for the sport if kiteboarding becomes mainstream in coastal schools. Only time will tell but in the mean time, I’ll just concentrate on getting the Kawana students safely into the sport.
Later, Andy Yates
Slingshot Blog 