Dane Jordan - General Manager ASP Australasia

Where and when did you learn to surf?
My dad taught me to surf when I was about 8 or 9, taking me out at Greenmount and Kingscliff mainly. My first surfing memories are of being pushed into waves at Greenmount which was back in the good old days when Snapper, Rainbow and Greenmount were all clearly defined separate breaks.

What do you love about Surfing? 
To be completely honest, everything! Surfing can provide enjoyment to everyone on so many different levels and for so many different reasons, which is what makes it unique and for me easy to love. The thrill of riding a waves and trying to master something that for most people cannot be mastered is amazing but most all it’s the escape that surfing offers which is the greatest. Even a bad surf can turn a crappy day around.

Do you have a session that stands out as your most memorable?
That’s a tough one as there have been so many memorable sessions over the years. I can’t say I have just one stand out but I can narrow it down to two. Scoring perfect 6 foot Boneyards in Tasmania with only a handful of guys out is one, it was just an amazing day and an even better wave, 6 foot freight train barrels breaking for hundreds of metres so it’s one of those hard to forget sessions. The other was a session at a local reef where I grew up back when I was 20-21, I broke 4 boards that day, but it was as good as it gets. 6ft slabs surfing with your mates and it was probably the first time I ever got barreled with both arms stretched sideways and couldn’t touch either side and had the proof that it had all happened.

Where is your favourite place in the world that your job has taken you?
I’m extremely lucky to have a job that takes me to a lot of amazing places and thanks to the ASP I’ve been able to see and surf in a number of countries which I probably wouldn’t have been to otherwise. I could easily list half to a dozen different places as favourites, everywhere is unique, beautiful and after going to many of them over the years I also have great friends in each place which makes them all special. Having had the chance to visit the likes of Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Tahiti, Fiji, Philippines, Taiwan, Japan, Maldives, New Zealand and others for work is a dream come true.

What sort of education have you had? 
I completed a Bachelor of Information Technology majoring in Information Management at QUT in Brisbane, I then went on to complete a Bachelor of Business with a major in Sports Management at Griffith University on the Gold Coast.

What was your very first job?
When I was 14 I got a job as a Kitchen Hand/Shop Assistant at Nuggets Café in Kingscliff. The owners kids all surfed and they were super supportive in giving me time to travel to contests and time off for school and study when needed. They also taught me a lot about how to manage staff, treat people with respect and how to ensure you get the best out of people.

What is your current job and what does it entail? 
I’m currently the General Manager for ASP Australasia. ASP is broken up into 7 regions, Australasia, Africa, Japan, North America, South America, Europe and Hawaii who are in charge of looking after everything below the WCT events, so we focus on the Prime and Star events, Pro Juniors and LQS events in our respective areas. Australasia basically looks after the entire Asia and Pacific region with the exclusion of Japan so it’s a large area and requires a substantial amount of travel at times. It's a pretty broad role and I rely heavily on the talented and committed people who work with me, but at the end of the day as long as the decisions I make help improve the sport of surfing and help provide opportunities for others to get involved in the sport then I’m doing my job.

How did you get into the position you are in today? 
During my time at University studying for my Business Degree, I was required to complete 300 hours of work experience in a sporting business. I rang a bunch of places and whilst some were interested all the could offer was standard answering the phone/photocopy work, so when I was entering in a local QCC competition I thought why couldn’t I do my work experience in surfing. I rang Surfing Queensland the next day and whilst at the time they hadn’t had anyone do anything similar, they took me on. I finished the work experience and volunteered for a couple more months, knowing a job opening was coming but regardless thought it would look good on my resume, and was luckily enough to be the successful applicant. The role was Operations Manager for Surfing Queensland and after a couple of years I was offered a job working as the Operations Manager for Surfing Australia and ASP Australasia which after a couple of years progressed into Tour Manager for ASP Australasia and then to where I am today.

What is the best thing about working for ASP?
For me, it’s getting to work in and for the sport I love. Getting to watch the best surfers in the world performing at their best and travelling to great locations and world class waves is a bonus and privilege as well.

Where do you see yourself in 10 years? 
With the changes that have and are taking place within ASP at the moment, it’s a really exciting time to be involved and as things continue to progress I have no doubt there will be plenty of opportunities within ASP but also within surfing and sports in general but who knows what the future holds?

Where can we find you online?

Web: www.aspaustralasia.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/WSL/
Youtube: www.youtube.com/aspaustralasia
Instagram: http://instagram.com/asp


 

Posted by: Troy Roennfeldt, on October 28, 2013
Categories: Interviews