The U.S. Ski & Snowboard Association is backing off its bid to govern Team USA surfing in the LA28 Olympics, saying it will focus on its athletes and upcoming winter Olympic Games.
USA Surfing, the San Clemente-based group that has long been the pipeline for amateur surfing athletes, and the Park City winter sports group have been lobbying the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee for the past year over who should govern the competitive athletes who will represent the United States in the waves. The group that governs the national team is poised to gain millions of dollars in funding for training, development and promotional efforts.
USA Surfing was the national governing body when the sport debuted in the Olympics for the 2020 Tokyo Games. But in 2021, it voluntarily decertified in order to straighten out its management and organizational structure following issues the USOPC had with the reporting of funds.
The USOPC took over the managing role for the 2024 Paris Games and then opened the floor for future Olympics.
In an announcement released Friday, Nov. 14, U.S. Ski & Snowboard said it entered the application process with “enthusiasm and conviction in our ability to help elevate American surfing using its athlete-first model, track record of success across 10 Olympic & Paralympic sports and world-class infrastructure that could provide the resources that U.S. surfers deserve.”
But after reaching out multiple times over the past 18 months to USA Surfing, U.S. Ski & Snowboard officials said in their announcement, the group “chose public attacks and uninformed legal threats instead of constructive dialogue and engagement.”
“Considering those factors, U.S. Ski & Snowboard has concluded that our energy and expertise are best used in service to our athletes as they prepare for the upcoming Winter Games,” U.S. Ski & Snowboard officials said. “We feel progress in sport requires partnership and trust. We remain open to opportunities in the future should the environment become more collaborative.”
USA Surfing could not be immediately reached for comment.
Surfers in the past year have rallied behind the San Clemente nonprofit, sending letters to the committee in support and lobbying elected officials to get involved. Most recently, Assemblymember Laurie Davies weighed in, supporting USA Surfing as the future governing body.
Both USA Surfing and U.S. Ski & Snowboard, since the start of the year, have been making their case to the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee, with audits and ongoing discussions underway.
Surfing, with its third Olympic appearance, is now officially a permanent sport in the Summer Games lineup.
The LA28 event is taking place at Lower Trestles, just south of San Clemente, considered the best surf break on the mainland. It’s the same place USA Surfing has long held its national championships to help groom amateur surfers for the big leagues.
LA28 gives American surfers a massive home-field advantage and will be one of the biggest global moments for U.S. surfing with the spotlight on Lower Trestles. Already, Team USA’s women’s team has claimed two gold medals.
USA Surfing has put in new management, a new board and staff, and has new policies and procedures and safeguards in place, its leadership told the U.S. Olympic Committee. The findings from the audit have been rectified, it said.
Earlier this year, Sophie Goldschmidt, CEO of the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association, argued that integrating surfing into the organization would allow the athletes to tap into existing infrastructure, “allowing surfers to have additional tools to succeed on the world’s biggest stage.”
Goldschmidt was CEO of the World Surf League before joining the U.S. Ski and Snowboard and argued there were more similarities than differences between the board sports.
But resistance to the winter sports group taking over surfing swelled. Top athletes, parents of young surfers, the International Surfing Association and the World Surf League signed letters of support to the USOPC for USA Surfing to be named the governing body.
USA Surfing officials previously said the organization has big plans for its athletes who are headed to the LA28 Olympics, including incorporating AI video capture and analysis, aerial training, wave pool training, and performance clinics that cover topics from breath work to biomechanics to branding.
It has already secured a multi-million dollar commitment from San Clemente-based Kamaka Responsible Development and surfboard-building company Resin Service to help in the process.
While the athletes have yet to be decided, Olympic organizers this week released the dates for the surfing competition, expected to happen during a window of July 15 to 23, 2028.