Burning issue ...image-conscious surf life savers prefer boardshorts to budgie smugglers / Paul Riley.
Surf life savers in a flap over budgie smugglers
"Tired of being paid out"
Club memberships dwindling, budgies to blame
BUDGIE smugglers versus boardshorts has emerged as a burning issue among image-conscious surf life savers manning Queensland`s beaches, The Courier-Mail reports.
In a bid to keep more young people in the sport, surf life saving officials have introduced uniform boardshorts as an alternative to budgie smugglers and the David Hasselhoff Baywatch-style gym shorts.
Surf Life Saving Queensland boss George Hill said uniform was always a hot topic among younger clubbies.
"The feedback was that they wanted some more comfortable boardshorts, so now we`ve given them the option," he said.
An official from one Gold Coast club, who asked not to be named, said he had been trying to introduce a new uniform for years, but was met with resistance by club hierachy.
"The surf carnivals are a perfect example," he said.
"Kids hang around the beach all day in their boardshorts and they only take them off at the last possible second for a race and as soon as the race is over they put them back on," he said.
"Bright red and yellow caps and club uniform speedos or those other daggy red shorts are not a good look for a kid who would probably rather be wearing a pair of Quiksilver or Rip Curl boardies."
"But some of the old salts at our club don`t want to know about it, which is a shame, because we are losing young kids to the sport."
Mermaid Beach club captain Pete Degnian, himself a devoted budgie smuggler, said anything that helped keep kids in life saving was good for the movement.
"It`s probably cooler for kids to wear boardies than the old budgie smugglers," he admitted.
Patrol member Matt Williams, 14, said the new-look boardshorts definitely had appeal.
"You do get paid out on the beach wearing speedos," he admitted.
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