Club History

How it all began

A Bit of History
August 1993 Alex Mal Club Newsletter
by Jack Boast

Which do you believe to be the oldest longboard club in Australia? Well, we believe it is the Alex Mal Club.

The club was formed in the early winter of 1982 by Paul (Gringo) Anderson, John (Seaweed) Tregear and John (JB) Burke. The first contest was won by Peter (Biddo) Biden.

It was the club you had when you were not having a club. The first Constitution was written on the side of a XXXX carton by legal eagle Ossie Bonnuto whilst the club members were watching the Commonwealth Games on tv.

It read:

1. there are no rules

2. the aim is to have fun surfing

Unfortunately, this priceless piece of constitutional history was lost, probably when the old Plantation shop was torn down to make way for the International Hotel which we are still waiting to be built. Interestingly, the old shop was originally a service station and was operated by Barry (Bluff) Coulter's dad.

In December 1982 and December 1983 the Hayden Plantation Classics were held by the club. The 1982 event was the first of the modern longboard events held anywhere in Australia. The second longboard event in Oz was scheduled to be held at Byron Bay on Anzac Day 1983, but the surf was too crook at Wattego's and the boys so hung over that by unanimous vote the surfing was cancelled and the drinking continued.

In early 1984 it was decided to be more formal and the Committee comprised; Jack Boast President, John Paull Captain, Lee Thomas Secretary/Treasurer, Annie Weller and Debbie Tregear as the Social members. Since then Presidents have been Barry Coulter, Ian Jobson, Doug King, and Nev Jamieson.

So you see, we do have a little bit of history to live up to. Some people believe it is about time we did a little celebrating by having a big bash to have all of the old members come back for some sort of surfing extravaganza. What do you think?

A Bit of History
April 1995 Alex Mal Club Newsletter
by Jack Boast

The Alex Mal Club was featured in the historical section of the ASAQ Groundswell Newsletter. Great to see the club get a good spread with a list of the 'originals' like Seaweed, Gringo, JB and Ossie. The club started off as the club you have when you are not having a club. The original constitution was written on the side of a XXXX carton during sports on tv, and went something along the lines of "there are no rules."

Those were the days. On comp days, if the surf was good, the comp was cancelled and everyone went surfing instead. Have we lost the plot?

The feature of the second Hayden annual comp held in december of 1983 was the panic exodus from the caravan at the Bluff on the sunday morning after the big bash at the Alex Surf Club on the night before. Standing outside, an onlooker would have thought that the IRA had planted a bomb. There seemed to be an endless stream of people ejecting themselves from the door of the caravan. It turned out that one very-green-around-the-gills little chap inside, whose initials were JP, was looking as though he was about to throw up over the mob. JB, who carries a lot of weight, would have left Carl Lewis in his wake that morning. Others found out they natural pole-vaulters.