It appears according to the IKO site the next instructor course isnt until september?!
Anyone know of a way of doing the course and getting qualified before then?
Im in queensland but obviously would take a domestic flight if needed....
why not wait till september. We are about to hit winter which means less and less lessons
In queensland that is when our season starts for us its a winter sport in..our season is coming to an end in september
I've been researching this question and it seems that there are very few schools especially on the west coast that are able to provide either the specific IKO qual. or the BKSA qual. which appears to be the industry standard for 'teaching kite instruction' here.
Is there not a local equivalent form of training which is acceptable in order to work for a school?
If there are any set-ups on the west coast that can offer this qual. I would be interested to hear as I am very serious about enrolling on a course.
As for pre-requisites, the First Aid & Skipper's ticket are easily accomplished in Oz. The bug-bear is trying to find some local outfit to do an IKO type Instructor course.
You would think there would be a qualified trainer for each state especially when as you said the IKO seems to be the industry standard for getting work as an instructor in Australia and around the world.
Also as each state has different seasonal months for good wind wouldnt it make sense to run a school or have a trainer available when the need is greatest for instructors in that area? I know in FNQ we see a huge number of guys from down south coming up to enjoy our winter Kite season its one Australia's Kite Holiday Destinations up here between now and October
It seems a little strange that for an industry plagued with a shortage of instructors they would run such few training courses I think there was one in Feb in Brisbane and only one in Sept for the whole of 2012 in queensland.
Do we only have 2 course trainers for the IKO in the whole of Australia? If so Why?
Is it to keep the overall instructor numbers down low and to limit the number or size of Kite Boarding schools I wonder? There has to be a reason...shouldnt there...hmmm
Wezls, IKO courses don't come around in Australia very often and the only available dates are the ones on the IKO site. The other solution would be to go overseas (Thailand for example) and do your IKO there. Unfortunately there is currently a shortage of IKO examiners in Australia and this is the reason why there are so few IKO courses in Australia. From what I know, at the moment, there are no active IKO examiners in Australia...the main reason for that is that IKO examiners are typically school owners/managers and it is very difficult for them to be available to run courses during the kite season.
wow...no active IKO examiners in Australia...that sux...looks like options are very limited unless I want to pay a ridiculous amount of cash to do it in Thailand...thanks for the info mate :)
It seems this threat is about to run out. At the moment it is looking like a trip to Exmouth(UK) plus board, plus expenses, plus hire car would be the only way to do the cert. It's a pity but one school I approached for the course in WA claimed they couldn't run it due to lack of interested participants. They had gone to the trouble of booking a UK instructor as well!
KitePower Australia are holding an IKO Instructors course around 24th Sept this year in Redclife, Brisbane
Have you contacted KSW in Perth? They were running an BKSA ITC earlier this year so maybe they will have another one before the beginning of next season.
