Tuesday 20 October 2015

Sandboarding National and Local Teams

Hello! Welcome to the newest post and edition of Sandboarding Nation where this week I will give my ideas and/or reason for why there should be local and national sandboarding teams and how they may work. I'm going to be talking about ideas for teams which are competitive and can win competitions for single person racing against the clock, stunts disciplines, freestyle performances and racing where all people go down together for which teams for which the players can get points for a league table or a trophy to win! Social clubs where sandboarding is a past time won't count in this post.

Starting your own local or regional sandboarding team


If you're thinking of starting a team, you need some competitors to do the racing & performing for or alongside you. For basic set up of a sandboarding team you will need at least 7 basic things:


  1. Competition: You're gonna be bored on your own and with your peers if you can't challenge your racing speed & performance tricks and skills with anyone else. Along with your opposing team, you're gonna need independent and unbiased judges & referees to help decide the outcome of a Sandboarding contest between 2 local or national sides to see who's team is better in racing and or tricks
  2. Players: You can't have a team without the right people. Since sandboarding is a sport without a proper institutionalised governing body, there isn't a set amount of players required to fulfil a team. What you need are people who have good speed, stamina, endurance, balance, co-ordination and/or strength, treat them well and make them feel proud to be on your team!
  3. Name: You need to make your team stand out and you can do that with a name! You might not be able to call yourself 'Manchester United 2.0' but if you pick a good sandboarding related name and something that will make you be the best and win, then you could be the equivalent of Manchester United in the sandboarding world!
  4. Crest: Give yourself a picture to distinguish your team. Choose a logo that shows your true colours and what your team is like, if your team is hoping to be the fastest and most agile, try a Panther on a coloured background with a weapon or something. You don't even need to be an artist, you could even start on Microsoft Paint or Photoshop. Go wild!
  5. Constitution: Not the U.S. constitution but write down a passage of writing that outlines your team's goals and vision for the future, come up with an introduction, original team, what skills your team have, what you aspire for, what you hope to win and how you're going to be a good and effective team.
  6. Presence: In order to function, build fans, gain popularity and maybe gain more reputation as a team, you should try to make a Facebook page, twitter account, website, public group and/or advert for your team to try and recruit members or even to just gain support at your next match.
  7. Money: To fund your equipment, meetings, players (if you'd want to pay them but it would make players more loyal to you), web presence and potential advertising; you need to get money somehow. You could either start from scratch or you could sell merchandise if you get successful to a certain extent in order to gain money.

For local teams, that would be your way of sandboarding against each other but you'd need at least another 8 teams at least to get a good league going (which could be funded by a local sports authority, council, sponsorship or by a pot funded by all of the clubs in your area) in order to win a cash prize, trophy, new prize, etc... I think even if there is only 2 local teams you know about, then you can still go against each other over a prize a bit like 'El Clásico' in Spanish football. Since local teams are less serious than national sides playing, I believe local teams are easier to form and play with because national sides can be unregulated since there is no power or world sandboarding organisation.

Starting a national side (Why we can't have them yet)



This will be more difficult as your country could be home to many teams and/or sandboarders. You would need to be democratic and stand your ground in order to determine if you are capable to manage a country in an event of sport. I'm about to give a quote which will sum up why we can't have national sides.
"I do this blog as like my second occupation and I live in the UK, due to me not being in touch with many sandboarders because I see so few in this country, I could easily proclaim myself as the new manager of the UK Sandboarding Association or the manager of the UK or England Sandboarding Racing or Stunt Team; However, I would need to gain popular approval of the people and the approval of a world sandboarding body, since there is no world governing body for sandboarding (like FIFA for football or soccer) then I honestly believe that this sport is currently stuck in a limbo. We need an organisation to oversee sandboarding, regulate, recognise teams and players but not let it get in the way of leisurely activities and non-competitive sandboarding."

If our sport was introduced in the Olympic and Paralympic games, it would provide a world of benefits and advantages to unregulated sandboarding which include:
  • Greater understanding of rules under the olympic code
  • A bigger sense of national pride for the competing countries
  • More potential popularity and reach
  • People to represent and captain their country or territory

My conclusion


People power can make up local teams, those teams can make a league and a national tournament. If teams in a league can debate to make their rules and policies (which I looked upon on my blog post dating 7th December 2014 about a points system) Local teams with enthusiasm and time can make a real desire for sandboarding in the community, but in terms of national sides and international competition; there needs to be a regulated body to ensure non-bias, fair play and real determination for the sport.

Next time


Catch me on here where I will schedule my next post for the 1st November and I will be discussing about a DIY or homemade wax which could save you money and time; I won't know how making a homemade wax would go so I will be testing items which might give your board just a bit of an edge whilst on the dunes! In the meantime, always stick to Facebook and Twitter for the latest updates! See you on the dawn of the next month.

Monday 12 October 2015

Sandboarding Nation: 1 year on

A year ago today, an idea came out of my head and went into practise. A post was put on here for the first time (It was a post saying what would be on next week) but the blogging began there! I'm really happy about this blog, it's my second job in a way! I'd like to thank each and every one of you for reading my blog and for spreading the word on Sandboarding and staying loyal to the blog since the start! I'm gonna hit you with some blog statistics data, ideas for the future and what I think will happen to the blog soon.

Viewing Statistics


On the 11th October 2015 (1 day prior to the 1 year operation of the blog, I observed that there had been a total of 1,955 visits to this very blog, by next year I want that number to double. That is my mission!

The most popular post in terms of visits is the first ever one (on the 19th October 2014) about the history of Sandboarding, it clocked 64 views as of the 11th October 2015. The most popular post in comment terms is the one about 'Sand Master Park' back in August 2015 that had a grand total of 1 comment (I know 1 doesn't seem like a lot but when newspapers started in the 16 & 17th centuries you didn't get many comments back then). I don't have a target for the number of comments as it's your blog and you give the feedback.

My top 5 countries from people who have viewed this blog the most hail from the United States, United Kingdom, Israel, Brazil and Namibia.

My Future Ideas


I'm gonna tell you my ideas for upcoming posts which I were going to surprise you with but I couldn't wait any longer and I felt that I better prepare you for what I would have in store.

Now some urgent posts that need to be up soon are the Top 10 countries for this year! You notice I did this exact same list last year, I hope to continue that and hopefully since I've observed and blogged for a full year, I can make a 'Year in Review' which will be long but will take various months and seasons into account.

Now my not so urgent but posts in my queue are regarding my ideas for a physical book to be released maybe about Sandboarding itself, this blog, my love for sandboarding, a certain place (I don't know yet) but hopefully it'll take off; publish the top 10 sandboarding complexes in a certain country (U.S.A. for example), what the best homemade sandboard wax is if you're a little tight on money, A potential business idea or plan for my own sandboarding park, if there should be a world governing body for Sandboarding (a bit like a non-corrupt FIFA) and if there should be national and local sandboarding teams.

I also have ideas for posts but aren't relevant to a particular sub-topic. I am thinking of giving this blog a new layout or structure, putting a podcast in addition to the blog and also thinking of getting new e-mails especially for this blog so if anyone is willing to contact me.


Competition Time!


I have a competition where I will be giving away a FREE Sandboarding Nation T-Shirt but I haven't made any moves on it yet since I'm taking driving lessons, paying for food, funding for a car, etc... So if I decide to make a move on a competition or if a lot of you appreciate the idea, I'll start it up; after all, the blog is written for you!

Final Thought


I'm really happy I've managed to maintain and keep this blog for a year, it doesn't feel like a year but I can remember publishing the first posts in college, with no job and nothing in my spare time; now that's changed and time can be a bit of a struggle, I still try to keep the blog going to report if there's anything in the Sandboarding world! At times I wanted to stop for good (as I did for a few months) but I couldn't let you down and I am very passionate about sandboarding so I'm gonna carry on. I'd like to thank everyone this past year and I wish everyone a happy and safe time as I move into the second year of Sandboarding Nation!

The next post will be published on the 20th October and it will concern my thoughts and ideas to implement National and Local teams for Sandboarding! I'll see when the next post is published and be sure to stay on the Sandboarding Nation Facebook and Twitter pages! Take care of yourself people!