Eindelijk laten degene om wie ht uiteindelijk draait in de wereldtour(s) zich horen. De pro-riders hebben een vereniging opgericht om hun belangen te vertegenwoordigen. Nog een belangen groep erbij dus maar naast de GKA (merken) wel de belangrijkste.

Pro kite riders join forces in a union.

Because of the current situation of the Pro Kite Tour, the riders decided to take their

responsibility to become part of the solution.

The riders are an asset to the tour, to sponsors, and to local organizations. Therefore

the riders will participate in the discussion about who will be the tour organizer in

2016 and in the future.

That is why, from this moment on, the riders will come forward as one in a union,

under the name KRU that stands for Kiteboarding Riders United.

Their aim is to protect the interest and belongings of the riders, improving the

communication between the brand (GKA), local and tour organization, to make the

tour better than it already is and to make sure that riders will get rewarded for their

effort.

The current interim members of the board are: Youri Zoon, Annelous Lammerts, Liam

Whaley and Alex Pastor.  The board assigned Danny Galiart to negotiate with the

different organizations, and to be spokesman to the press. Galiart will put out a

tender for organizations like IKA/KWT and others. The organization with the best

proposal for the riders will get to organize the tour for the coming years!

En dan gelijk de reactie van de IKA erover:

The International Kiteboarding Association (IKA) welcomes the foundation of a riders union to truly represent the riders interests. With the 2016 IKA Kiteboarding World Championships starting off next month in El Gouna, Egypt, it is very important to the IKA that there is a true representation of the riders to discuss format, judging and rules development.

One of the key reasons for the termination of the contract with the former PKRA was the protection of riders interests – not only in terms of supporting them to get outstanding prize moneys paid, but also to reverse rule changes in 2015 that did not ensure fair competition. Giving the riders back influence on the development of the sport has top priority.

We invite the interim board of the KRU to get involved immediately to prepare the first round of the 2016 IKA Kiteboarding World Championships, similarly as we have invited the industry association GKA to come to a close working relationship to us.

We would also like to extend that there are already considerations underway to amend IKAs governance principles and constitution to allow stronger involvement of other stakeholders; and how to formally include the riders and the industry representatives in the IKA decision making process on the IKA General Assembly and the IKA Executive Committee.