Evaluation of a surfing programme designed to increase personal well-being and connectedness to the natural environment among ‘at risk’ young people

Surfing and marine conservation: Exploring surf‐break protection as IUCN protected area categories and other effective area‐based conservation measures

“…Elsewhere, researchers have investigated the specific effects of surfing, where various studies show the cognitive benefits of surfing on special needs groups (Armitano & Clapham, ), and demonstrate the physical health benefits of surfing for children with disabilities. Studies from around the world also show how surfing significantly increases wellbeing and confidence among youth with mental health issues or those suffering from social exclusion (see Gaspar de Matos et al, ; Godfrey, Devine‐Wright, & Taylor, ; Hignett, White, Pahl, Jenkin, & Le Froy, ; Stuhl & Porter, ).…”

Exploring Critical Alternatives for Youth Development through Lifestyle Sport: Surfing and Community Development in Aotearoa/New Zealand

“…As Caddick et al describe, when the veterans "moved throughout the seascape with its constantly fluid and shifting modality, the intentionality of their consciousness was no longer dominated by PTSD; rather, it was directed outward toward the sensory stimulations of the ocean" [69] (p. 80). Similarly, Hignett et al [13] suggest these extremely positive stoke experiences described by surfers can be an incredibly strong emotion, that for at risk youth may lessen their more usual strong emotions of anger and frustration. This same process was widely reflected in the words of our participants:…”

“…Although research is limited, there is some evidence to suggest that lifestyle/action sport projects, particularly in parkour and skateboarding, are successfully engaging young people and beginning to address issues of community-engagement, creativity and healthy lifestyles in new meaningful ways [7,13,19,24,41,44,45,51]. Over the last decade, surfing has emerged as a lifestyle and action sport context in which a range of initiatives have been piloted [13,38,[52][53][54][55], addressing issues from mental health [54], active ageing [55], at risk young people [13,43], the well-being of indigenous populations [14], and the inclusion of women and girls [22,56].…”

“…Over the last decade, surfing has emerged as a lifestyle and action sport context in which a range of initiatives have been piloted [13,38,[52][53][54][55], addressing issues from mental health [54], active ageing [55], at risk young people [13,43], the well-being of indigenous populations [14], and the inclusion of women and girls [22,56]. Indeed, as Thorpe and Chawansky note, the focus on women and girls has been particularly noticeable, often founded by women who are lifestyle and action sport participants themselves and who are "passionate about the potential of their activities to create change in other women's [and girls'] lives" [45] (p. 135).…”

“…These strategies include mixing teams (for example across talent, gender, age), downplaying competition, overlapping players and spectators and putting on various events in the same space. Academic research on activities including parkour [40][41][42], skateboarding [41,42] mountain-biking [12] and surfing [13,38] has demonstrated the potential of more informal, non-competitive and youth-led activities to engage those young people disenfranchised by traditional competitive team sports. In the UK, Hignett, et al [13] recently published work that found significant benefits in engaging in a surfing program among vulnerable school aged children, at risk of being excluded from school (see also [43]).…”