Chuck Allen, 1936–2011
The surfing coach turned snowboard evangelist
By occupation, Chuck Allen was a banker. By avocation, he was a cheerleader for surfing and snowboarding whose dogged efforts helped alter both sports’ image as stoner hobbies and convinced the world they were demanding, legitimate sports. Allen was a born teacher who communicated his love of competition and fair play to nearly everyone he encountered. “His guidance was priceless,” said Janice Aragon, head of the National Scholastic Surfing Association, the group Allen formed to unite competitive surfers under a common—and respectable—banner.
Allen was born in Enid, Okla., far from anything resembling saltwater or swells, said the San Bernardino, Calif., Sun. Horseback riding was his sport, and as a teen he competed in rodeos. But that was before he got his first glimpse of the Pacific Ocean, at age 19, when “he drove from Oklahoma to Southern California in a 1944 Ford Coupe.” His trip terminated at Tin Can Beach, so named because beachgoers dumped their trash there. He pitched a tent and worked odd jobs until he could afford an apartment. By the 1960s, he had graduated to a banking career and a house in San Juan Capistrano, in Orange County, with his wife and children. When the kids took up surfing, he did too, even serving as an unpaid coach on his sons’ high school surfing team.
But he didn’t care for the popular image of surfing as the sport of dropouts and beach bums, said The New York Times. So with four colleagues, he formed the NSSA, which required young surfers to stay in school and maintain a grade-point average of 2.0 or better. Surfers who complied were free to compete in sanctioned events and were offered “added incentives like scholarships and paths to corporate sponsorship.”
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Allen’s influence on snowboarding may have been even greater, said ESPN.com. When he and his family took up the sport in the 1980s, many ski areas prohibited snowboarding. Turning his “ambassadorial charm” to the challenge, he helped teach snowboarders and skiers to co-exist. In 1998, he used a $500 donation from TransWorld Snowboarding magazine to found the U.S. Amateur Snowboard Association, which today boasts 5,000 members. The move gave the sport the “legitimate farm system” it needed to win recognition as an Olympic sport. It made its Olympic debut in Nagano, Japan, in 1998. “He helped civilize the sport,” said snowboarding journalist Kevin Kinnear.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
-
Dame Maggie Smith: an intensely private national treasure
In The Spotlight Her mother told her she didn't have the looks to be an actor, but Smith went on to win awards and capture hearts
By Elizabeth Carr-Ellis, The Week UK Published
-
James Earl Jones: classically trained actor who gave a voice to Darth Vader
In The Spotlight One of the most respected actors of his generation, Jones overcame a childhood stutter to become a 'towering' presence on stage and screen
By The Week UK Published
-
Michael Mosley obituary: television doctor whose work changed thousands of lives
In the Spotlight TV doctor was known for his popularisation of the 5:2 diet and his cheerful willingness to use himself as a guinea pig
By The Week UK Published
-
Morgan Spurlock: the filmmaker who shone a spotlight on McDonald's
In the Spotlight Spurlock rose to fame for his controversial documentary Super Size Me
By The Week UK Published
-
Benjamin Zephaniah: trailblazing writer who 'took poetry everywhere'
Why Everyone's Talking About Remembering the 'radical' wordsmith's 'wit and sense of mischief'
By The Week UK Published
-
Shane MacGowan: the unruly former punk with a literary soul
Why Everyone's Talking About The Pogues frontman died aged 65
By The Week UK Published
-
'Euphoria' star Angus Cloud dies at 25
Speed Read
By Catherine Garcia Published
-
Legendary jazz and pop singer Tony Bennett dies at 96
Speed Read
By Devika Rao Published