How dodgy is the IKO getting?

Agreed, BIGwavedave..

''Kitesurfing instruction needs to be managed by a not-for-profit organisation whose sole aim is safe instruction''

Stick this in your Banana skins and chew on this ya Monkey's !

I heard there was a group trying to do a separate kite lesson thing similar to IKO in south Australia or Victoria about 3-4 years ago. I dont know what happened to them or the details, anyone know?.

I have organized 2 IKO training groups with around 10 people per group, every one completed the course, some riders could barely kite upwind.

I have sat through and completed my IKO training 2 times over 3 years at $800 to $1000 a pop. I did not pay enough $$$ for the IKO to keep me registered for another year as I have other jobs and teaching in winter sucks, I also feel like they are money hungry...

Friends who did the course felt riped off to keep paying for lesson cards and other crap.

The knowledge I learned was well worth the money to do the course, but having to keep paying just to stay registered is a joke.

So..
I think this should be put forward to the Australian Kite surfing Association as a matter they should look into helping us resolve !
Do you think they can help ?

IKO is like bridle kites and unstrapped surfboards.
crap eh.
Everyone got sucked into it....except me

hahahaha, here we go! Strap yourselves in and grab the popcorn.

But itsss myyyy jobbbbbb

You so funny!

let's stir something else up then!!!

Just not here

As long as the rabble includes unhooked, bridles, kooks and the PKRA!!

Now back to IKO bashing :D

Hmmm..
Perhaps a % of membership $ to AKSA should dedicated to an Australian system being set up ?
As we should be able to stand on our own feet, and not have to make use of a OS scam organisation such as IKO.

AKSA aware of this and finger on the pulse should be doing something about ASAP.. as they are the ones pushing for us all to be insured every year and to practice safe kiting !

I'm sure you mean well, however your comments come across as a bit "out of touch" with the reality of our sports current situation.
Pointing the finger at AKSA (which is actually run by a bunch of fellow kiters with full time jobs careers and families), is just not going to add anything useful to this discussion.
AKSA promotes the idea of safe kiting for sure, however it is YOU that must practice safe kiting (you includes everyone that kites).
Insurance is actually about being responsible sports people and maintaining access to kiting spots, its not about have a get out of jail card that allows you to kite like a jerk.
Membership of AKSA (are you actually a member??) is the single most important thing that anyone that kites can do to help preserve access to kiting spots. A large membership base is what gets us respect in the general community we all live in. Size and numbers is that counts as the most important thing in determining who gets to do what and where. Look at what WAKSA achieved in Mullaloo, Perth recently!!

Setting up an Australian Kitesurfing Instructors Association, under AKSA, should happen, and is needed for sure. AKSA should draw on the knowledge base of the pioneers of our sport to help formulate a training standard, etc.
Before any of that can happen though some individuals will need to step up and be prepared to create the AKIA or whatever it might be called.

AKIA will not happen by complaining about AKSA or by pointing the finger at the volunteers who have guided the organisation to where it is today.

Regardless of my personal thoughts about IKO, the fact is that it is irrelevant in Australia. IKO Insurance was never recognised by Councils that gave instructors permits to operate. IKO has no legal jurisdiction here, they have no office or staff here IKO have no idea of the needs of instructors here in Australia, and the systems they have to control instructors are unfair, appear to be primarily based on IKO income needs and open to rorting as has been seen in Australia and overseas. IKO do not expend any of the income they collect from instructors and students back into the sport, and that would be the biggest criticism that I've heard leveled at the IKO.

Setting up an AKIA will not be easy, Darren Marshall, Mike Walker, Jon Ashmore and many others have discussed it at length. The work required is massive, and the head of AKIA really should be a paid position and possibly with a paid secretary too. AKSA is preparing itself to be elligible for government funding, and together with its current bank assets (and a levy applied to each State Assoc too) it should be in a position to hire a person to head up an AKIA, soon, hopefully?

Register your interest with your State assoc, become a member of your State Assoc, get hooked up with other like minded people and start working on the things that matter, not just wasting time writing stuff on the splinterweb.

I'd be willing to lend a hand when needed.

Yes Steve, spot on.

There are many in the current state committees as well as on AKSA who would no doubt be willing to assist in the endeavor.

As Steve points out, the critical element in the success of this objective is resourcing the right person to kick it all off and make it happen.

Several issues will be challenging to overcome.

Firstly, this person will have to paid something more than slave-labour wages and that will have to come from somewhere. Are AKSA members willing to see their annual fees increased to cover this? If not then where will the funds come from? No one is going to take this on as a "feel-good" exercise. It will be a lot of work.

Secondly, and this is always an issue in these types of circumstances, it will be difficult to find someone who is capable, willing, qualified, interested and at the same time not in a commercial conflict of interest position.

The big problem is that it will be near-impossible to find someone who meets all of those criteria that isn't already somehow commercially involved in the sport. This inevitably will create a situation that SOMEONE will object to on grounds of conflict of interest. But does anyone expect any of those people to exit a role that has taken many years to build up over time (like a school or a business) to take on such a role? Unlikely.

AKSA have discussed this in depth on a number of occasions and there isn't a simple solution but that doesn't mean the discussions shouldn't continue. But it will come down to the fact that someone will have to be paid a reasonable wage to do it and that money will have to come from somewhere. I agree with comments earlier in the thread--it should be run by a not-for-profit organisation but that doesn't mean not-for-wages for the person who is doing it.

I'd like to hear from others on this forum how you think such a local Australian-run organisation could be funded. If that issue can be solved then there's latitude to start working on the subsequent challenges. And please, try and keep it on-topic...

Saffer, So I guess you were born with Kiting skills.. Selfish & a Kook..

It would not hurt to contact Standards Australia
www.standards.org.au/
for advice on this matter

"About Standards Australia

Standards Australia is the nation's peak non-government Standards organisation. It is charged by the Commonwealth Government to meet Australia's need for contemporary, internationally aligned Standards and related services."

Many Australian Standards have international recognition

Still gonna cost me too much $$$ so I asked to be deleted. Let's see if I get another reply.

If I purchase 2 instructor packs I get 8 points without having to do any education.

ho hum

G'day Dave'
Just gone through all of the above with IKO, been teaching in Perth for the last 2 seasons, its more for the passion than the money as my full time job pays far more.
Shame they have'nt any solutions apart from making more money
I wonder if Jon Dodds remembers me treating him to lunch when he was in perth taking the ITC i did