I have a few questions for kiting instructors -
Are you a member of AKSA? If not, why not?
Do you incourgage your students to join AKSA?
The reason I ask this is that I've met many new kiters who don't know that there is a national body looking after their interests.
It should be compulsory for all students Aksa could introduce a 3 month membership for students same deal for overseas kiters here for a short time
My 2c
Hey KIT33R!
I'm not a member of AKSA or should I say WAKSA cause it seems to be a different one...
The main reason is because I find them useless here in WA. I'm used of very committed organisation back home in Europe and I really think this one is a joke.
Waksa people are winging all the time on the forum and spend their time complaining about the crowd and people who don't know about the local restrictions or regulations.
I don't know about the other states but here I've never seen any WAKSA sign even on the most crowded places. No informations, no warning just nothing but a single leaflet displayed on my windscreen while I was teaching.....
Oh, does it mean that someone from WAKSA came to our work place and didn't even bother coming along to have a chat with us instructors???? I've been here since the beginning of the season and no one has come to introduce WAKSA, their commitment and actions....
The only times I hear about them is when there is an event such as Kitestock, Lighthouse to Leighton....
Why the hell should I encourage our students to join them, I don't even know who they are....
I'm happy to pay an annual fee and support an organization if they are committed and efficient. Otherwise if it's only in order to get a public liability coverage, I just get a better one from my insurer (which I did this year).
Thanks Livit for your frank input. I wonder if you've actually visited the AKSA web site to see what AKSA, or your local state branch WAKSA, actually do.
Have you looked at the minutes from the 2011 AGMhttp://www.aksa.com.au/Default.aspx?pageId=655513
which will give you a detailed list a achievements for the year. It seems to me that WAKSA is very active in your wonderful state.
I think new kiters should be encouraged to be part of and participate in all aspects of kiteboarding including social events, competition, knowledge sharing and much more. As an instructor you are their introduction to the sport and should encourage participation.
As a "proffesional" it is you who should seek out the local organisation/s and make yourself aware of who they are and what and who they represent
So you just rock up and teach hey
You repeatedly "I just state what I see and also compare with some better organisations I've seen oversea"
How the hell do you know if you as you said "I don't even know who they are...."(reffering to WAKSA)
I find your comments arrogant and ill informed, but i am glad you are insured at least that shows some minor respect
Get of your arse and go i find out, and remember no one in WAKSA gets paid they are volunteers
EDIT Juddy beat me to it
Always the same statement Juddy. You just don't like when people (especially the ones from oversea) criticize the way WAKSA works.
My comment, I say it again is MY OPINION. Maybe some of the CONCERNED people (instructors) have a different one or just share the same. But if you were clever you would take the criticism with a constructive manner instead of wasting your time correcting my spelling....
I state the fact that I've seen some better management elsewhere so if you don't want to accept my point of view, just don't take it. I can live with it....
Battles are won if the solders and generals walking the same direction!
Join! Share! Contribute!
...and this comes from a australianized german from Victoria!
OK...We have wind this week, so I go kiting....
Livit - You'll never make a change from the outside looking in just by throwing sticks and stones (insults).
If you want a different WAKSA, get involved, at least become a member and voice your opinion on what could be done different and better to the committee.
Would be interested to know if you are teaching legally and if you have full permits to conduct your kitesurfing instruction business?
Kite boarding Perth issue every student with a WAKSA Leaflet.
Perhaps a few more invites to thursdays kiteschool meeting may be needed, are you a kiteschool owner Livit 
Sorse or David from Kite and SUP operating in Newcastle, Port Stephens and Central coast..
Yes I am a member of AKSA, Yes I promote them to students for the public liability..
What I want to kno wis Why do I still need IKO Instructor qualification to teach in Australia?
I was told we were gong to talk to BKSA regarding using there teachign system in AUstralia, but that after it was all organised and a person was coming out to taolk with us, that someone in WA said they would do it all and orgainse it.
Yet that was over 12 months ago.. An here I sit sending money back to IKO still??
Also apart from issues with Bondi Beach and the occassion other beach in New South Wales I don't know what AKSA does in our state?
I will be approaching them soon as I want to run a race series and start a local club in Newcastle so we can start putting our funds towards local events, as I have no idea where all our monies are going..
There is much can be done, I know I don't have the time to join the committee myself so I will not throw stones, Andy, Emma and Myself helped out with AKSA years ago, but left due to someone accusing us of using it to promote our products so we stepped away. Funnily enough following our stepp down another brand did a massive promotion after they stepped in behind us..
There is good and bad in all orgainsation..
Happy they do cover comps for insurrance and I go to comps..
Hope this all makes sense..
Cheers Dave
It seems that AKSA or WAKSA have a fundamental problem about awareness. Most people i know dont have a clue about their existence let along what they do, some that have joined have only done so for the 3rd party insurance (Full Comp would be a better enticer) Others to join for competitions or events run by them.
Others have said "Whats the point"
I would consider myself a kite instructor but would never do it for a buck.
From experience, both BKSA and IKO are money grubbing organisations pumping out instructors to infect the world.......they even promote the life style of travelling and teaching....fine, but this does not work for me or my community of kite surfers.
Australia is going to have it's own certification at some point, but for the time being we can bench mark what is good and what is bad about the current orgs.....mostly bad I am afraid. We need to start from scratch and until then we can put up with the fly through crowd, the carpet baggers.
AKSA/WAKSA are membership orgs. who have done heaps to keep our beach access, and that is their mandate. The comps. and other events are extras. I believe these orgs. will be working towards limiting the number of "instructors" by eventually coming up with their own "qualifications," and believe me, these "qualifications" will include knowing the local customs and rules, one of which will be to join the AKSA. There will come a time, and the sooner the better where kite schools will be severely restricted..........and I believe that to be a good thing.
International money grubbing orgs. pumping out carpet baggers to pollute our spots with more kiters is not what the membership want.
^^^ The first step towards this would be to develop an Australian Standards document for kiteboarding instruction.
Having said that, I do not believe that the PADI scuba diving course complies with Australian Standards and look at how big PADI is worldwide !!
Do we have an Australian Kiteboarding Instructors Organisation/Association? No, I don't think so. This would help in setting local standards and in future Australian accreditation.
Don't assume this is AKSA's responcibility. Not many instructors sit on the various state or federal committees, hence we don't know what is expected. Don't say you're too busy, we all have busy lives with jobs and families.
Most professions in this country have there own associations, why not kiteboarding instructors?
Despite my intention to leave this thread alone, I can't not respond to some of Livits comments.
Livit, you are yet to PM me or explain in further detail why WAKSA is so “useless”, so if/when you get around to a PM, perhaps you might want to consider the following:
1) Please explain how you expect WAKSA to introduce ourselves to you, if we don't know you're out there instructing students? You haven't shown us the 'professional' courtesy of letting anyone know you're operating as a school or instructor so how would you expect us to know who you are? Here's a thought – if you'd introduced yourself to WAKSA, perhaps we might have been able to give you some assistance & local contacts, but no, “we don't even know who YOU are...”
2) You're here making a dollar out of the sport – other than that, what contribution have you made to the local scene?
3) By the way, have you got any relevant permission to teach from the local council where you are teaching or are you operating possibly 'illegally'? Is your school a registered business with an ABN/ACN, with appropriate insurance or are you just another traveling Euro instructor here on a holiday?
4) Signage….as I indicated yesterday, you have no idea about what you are talking about given you've been here since the start of this season. You might be interested to know that throughout 2011 WAKSA met with a range of government agencies who have to some degree, conflicting or over-riding jurisdictions when it comes to beaches and rivers in & around Perth. Those meetings have been about installation of relevant signage amongst other kite surfing issues.
Between these agencies, there is a huge amount of buck passing (some of it legitimate, some of it bureaucratic nonsense) that effectively means that no official signage will be put up. Unfortunately, WAKSA has been advised that if we were to install signage of our own, it would be removed as it wasn't authorised. - which is part of the reason why we've been publishing our location guidelines.
5) The only time you hear from WAKSA is when we are promoting events? Wow….who'd have thought that strange.
6) Finally, you'd support an organisation that was committed & efficient….please explain your definitions of committed & efficient. If you knew half of what goes on behind the scenes you'd probably have a better understanding of the local scene.
Come on Livit, you said you'd PM me with suggestions, contributions, ideas. Where are you - as of 9.00am Wednesday I haven't heard from you? I have never said WAKSA has all the answers & absolutely, things can be done differently and inevitably better, and possibly your suggestions could be used.
It's time to put your money where your mouth is….step up….
Exactly Australia does not have its own instructor and school standards org.
So how do you know if you have a good instructor or school? Well make sure your instructor is or has been IKO or BKSA accredited and even better make sure the school is IKO or BKSA accredited.
IKO has a web site you can check if the instructor has insurance, you can check if a school has insurance. IKO also do onsite checks to see if the school is complying with the rules and standards, like do they have a rescue craft, 1st aid kit, is the teaching location considered safe?, do they have a senior instructor Etc etc.
It's that simple! So as I said you want to know if kite instructors promote AKSA, I do but I promote the teaching standards 1st, let's face it if students learn't the full proper IKO or BKSA teaching method. AKSA would not have to work so hard to keep beaches open because there would be fewer incidents.
Also I don't like that anyone can be a member of AKSA and get Public liability, you should 1st make sure they are either iko/bksa qualified or do a skills check before accepting them. Maybe then the premiums would be lower as you would have fewer claims.
Aksa could promote itself better showing that while there are kite incidents, there are few if any involving members of AKSA.
Good on people that don't have any conflicts of interest whatsoever, who are not a dogooders, who don't aim to make profit and who are highly experienced at kiting (many many years experience behind them - ie done teh hard yards) that do this kind of stuff, but I personally have no interest whatsoever in any of this.
Anything that distances a country from organisations like IKO (Dominican Republic) and IKA(German) that do have huge conflicts of interest, are money grabbing rip off merchants and haven't put in the hard yards in kitesurfing is a good thing is my books.
The best tip I can offer is maybe think about teaching kite control with a 5m leash from the kites pump attachment point to your wrist giving the student 15 degrees of kite control that is instantly depowerable simply by launching and standing under the kite. Saves you money on trashed kites an means you can judge if the student has the ability/ control (learn oversheeting effects, gust control , depowering, kite control with minimal risk) to go it alone with the kite under instruction.
I agree with Livit. I have been kiting for about 6 years and I am not a member of any kiting organisation. I was a member in 2007 with AKSA and I don't know why. I paid $70.00 and all I got was invites to kiting comps, and i'm not that good, so why bother?
