TOFINO, B.C. — A college in Tofino, a Vancouver Island town, is working with an Australian university to develop a program for surfers — who are better known for skipping class than hitting the books — to learn the business aspect of the sport.
Barbie Mayor, a North Island College nursing instructor and surfer who is coordinating the program development, said the first class of about 20 students could be heading for classes in September 2009.
“There is no other program like it available in the Americas,” said Mayor, a surfing judge.
Under the program being developed with Southern Cross University in Tweed Heads, Australia, the program will be run out of Port Alberni and nearby Tofino, focusing on the global surfing industry with classroom studies and internships as well as time in the water.
“I think it’s a great idea,” said Drew Hawkshaw, national sales and marketing manager for Rip Curl Canada. “Everybody can surf but not everybody knows the business behind how surf companies are run.”
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