Clubs

The 1960s saw the birth of surfboard riding clubs. The first was Cronulla and its female counterpart the Kurranulla Wahines, followed a decade later by St George, Eatern states and Wanda Beach Boardriders Clubs.

However, the renaissance of the modern club surfing really began with the Midway Club, which ostensibly an offshoot from the local Comfort Surfboard Factory. This club attracted nearly all of the best local surfing talent in the mid 1970s. There was so much talent that it could not survive long-term, therby seeding the formation of a new generation of boardriding clubs.

Mark Occhilupo made his first appearance at the Cronulla Junior Boardriders Club, which consisted of the best junior surfers of the day. Sandshoes, a protected reef break at Oak Park, always had its local club and attracted a small core of dedicated regulars, but it was Cronulla Sharks Boardriders, formed in 1978, which had the most competitive success, winning the Australian Title in 1990.

Established in 1980 and 1985 respectively, Elouera and Cronulla Point Boardriders to this day have a strong membership of committed local surfers. However, the Cronulla Christian Surfers, founded in the late 19702 by local surfer Brett Davis, has left the biggest legacy. Now an international surfing movement, this organisation has boardriding clubs in 15 nations with more than 400 volunteer workers.

Cronulla continues to have a prominent presence in the surfing world, spitting out world class surfing competitors like Bobby Brown in the 1960s and 1999 World Champion Mark Occhilupo, as well as dozens of state, Australian and international competitors.

Members of local boardriding clubs also put Cronulla on the map as being the bodyboard capital of the world, assisted by the extreme surrounding reef breaks that gave up-and-coming bodyboarders a chance to gain national and international recognition.