The Local Surfer - University of Exeter
The Local Surfer - University of Exeter
The Local Surfer - University of Exeter
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again, use the example <strong>of</strong> climbing to explain this “rookie error”. <strong>The</strong>y explain<br />
that the rookies attempt to show climbers and non-climbers that they<br />
themselves are a climber by wearing climbing clothes and shoes in non-<br />
climbing settings, or carrying equipment or literature concerning climbing.<br />
<strong>The</strong>se attempts by the rookie involve using visual symbols to support their<br />
identity as a climber. <strong>The</strong>re is little evidence <strong>of</strong> this found within the <strong>Local</strong><br />
<strong>Surfer</strong> according to Beaumont (2007), but is a characteristic more common <strong>of</strong> the<br />
Wannabe. Finally, the last “rookie error” in identity construction is resolving<br />
contradictions. This is viewed by Donnelly and Young (1999) as the most<br />
important stage <strong>of</strong> identity construction. <strong>The</strong> contradictions in question lie<br />
“between the expected or apparent values and behaviours, and the true values<br />
and behaviours which are acted out for novices, or told to them as subcultural<br />
folklore” (Donnelly and Young, 1999: 73). It is already known that hostility<br />
exists in the water from veteran local surfers towards novices, this study should<br />
attempt to unravel what the novice perceives as expected values and what are<br />
actually the apparent values they perceive from the veteran local surfer. This<br />
therefore is the end <strong>of</strong> identity construction in the eyes <strong>of</strong> Donnelly and Young<br />
(1999).<br />
Donnelly and Young‟s (1999) experiences <strong>of</strong> identity construction within rock<br />
climbing and rugby lead them to believe that the process <strong>of</strong> identity<br />
construction is followed by a second process, that <strong>of</strong> identity confirmation. This<br />
confirmation process arose after they noticed the point at which a novice began<br />
to think <strong>of</strong> themselves as a participant usually occurred well before the existing<br />
participants or veterans thought <strong>of</strong> them as a fellow participant. According to<br />
Donnelly and Young (1999: 68) “In order for the new identity to be accepted,<br />
the new peers must confirm it”. Identity confirmation is relatively<br />
straightforward in that the novice accepts the actual values <strong>of</strong> the subculture<br />
and the identity <strong>of</strong> the novice is confirmed by established members <strong>of</strong> the<br />
subculture (Donnelly and Young, 1988). According to Ford and Brown<br />
(2006:132) identity confirmation in surfing occurs through a demonstration by<br />
the novice <strong>of</strong> the right embodied qualities while riding the waves which they<br />
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