Angola Joins ISA as 104th Member Nation

La Jolla, California – 10 July 2018

The International Surfing Association (ISA) has today welcomed Angola as their 104th Member Nation, continuing the ISA’s drive to expand the reach of Surfing around the globe and, in particular, Africa.

The Federação Angolana De Desportos Náuticos (FADEN, Angolan Water Sports Federation in English) will join the ISA in working together to develop Surfing, SUP, Bodyboard, and all of Surfing’s disciplines in the country.

As a new ISA Member, FADEN has formulated the following actions in order to create and strengthen the basis for the sustainable growth of Surfing:

● Train personnel in all active areas of the sport -- coaching athletes, running competitions, and creating social programs

● Create a coaching group to train and manage the National Teams, focusing on youth engagement and development, and promoting participation on the National Teams by 2019/2020

● Organise a National Championship circuit featuring three events at different locations across the country

● Organise two workshops to train technical officials, such as judges and contest directors, and to train surf coaches

In 2018, FADEN has been active in implementing these development strategies in Angola by hosting their first coaching workshop from 2-3 June and their first National championship on 23 June in Cabo Ledo in collaboration with the Kionda Surf School. The National Championship featured 54 athletes with surfers from Angola, Portugal, France, Israel, and Brazil represented. With the support of the ISA, FADEN will work to take the sport of Surfing to the next level and increase their development efforts in Angola.

The inclusion of Angola as an ISA Member Nation comes during a push by the ISA to grow and develop Surfing in non-traditional Surfing nations. The current success of this strategy was evident at the 2017 ISA World Surfing Games, where nations such as South Korea, China, Senegal, Greece, and Afghanistan competed in the event for the first time.

ISA President Fernando Aguerre, said:

"The ISA family would like to offer a warm welcome to Angola. Surfing and SUP are blossoming sports with endless potential in Angola, and together with FADEN we can create the foundations to spread and develop these disciplines, particularly among the country’s youth.

"We are committed to working hand in hand with the surfers of Angola to elevate the sport’s growth to where they are competing in ISA World Championships, and maybe one day even a future edition of the Olympic Games."

Olga Albuquerque, President of FADEN, said:

"We are excited to join the ISA and access the benefits of ISA membership to professionalize and grow Surfing, and all its disciplines, in Angola. We hope to have junior surfers selected as ISA Scholarship ambassadors as well as our top surfers competing in the ISA World Championships in the near future.

"Angola has a coast full of undiscovered, underutilized surf spots, and we hope to take advantage of these natural resources to spread the joy of a sport that has touched us all. We look forward to a longstanding, strong relationship with the ISA to bring Surfing to young boys and girls around the country."

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