Starting in 2010, just when stand up paddle boarding began making headlines across the globe and being featured as the world’s fastest growing sport, a group of passionate stand up paddlers including Andre Niemeyer, Mike Muir, Chuck Patterson, and Jennifer Holcomb initiated the efforts to form a trade organization.

They organized a meeting held at the January 2011 Surf Expo in Orlando, Florida, drawing hundreds of business men and women with an interest in our sport. The growth of the sport kept that group quite busy and it wasn’t until late 2012 that the Stand Up Paddle Industry Association began being formed.