SUP Instructor Ingrid Kroon from IKSUP, The Netherlands

THE NETHERLANDS. ASI SUP Instructor Ingrid Kroon lives and works in one of the Netherlands best kept secrets, the nature reserve at Loostrecht. It’s a beautiful water haven for all kinds of bird and wild life. She tells us more about her ASI accredited SUP School and how she ended up working as an ASI instructor in the Lake District of the Netherlands.

“I’ve always loved the water and I was really into sailing from an early age. I did it competitively, which is where I met my husband. We moved here and had our children who were brought up on the water. My son became a professional wakeboarder and travelled all over the world competing, and, as he was still a minor, I went with him.  Once he grew up and I had more time for myself, I started to SUP and fell in love with it so at 54 I decided to start ikSUP, right on the edge of the nature reserve.

“We own a small island here in the Loostrecht nature reserve. It is such a beautiful pace, I wanted to share this with other people and I realised the best way to do this was by SUP.

“It’s so quiet and peaceful as you glide along the calm, clear waters. You can see so much from on board and you get a reasonable work out too. It’s just so good for you and so much fun and there are endless places to explore. No motor boats are allowed here either so it’s so peaceful.”

ikSUP is an ASI school offering all kinds of sup activities. As well as SUP lessons and SUP tours they provide kids’ sessions, SUP Yoga, rentals, parties and SUP Pilates along with dingy sailing and wakeboarding. But they specialise in offering dog-sup sessions for owners and their pooches.

As Ingrid says: “When I started paddling I always took my dog Juno along too, like a duck to water she adored it as much as I did. Now it’s her life and her job to take people out on the water with me. We have people and their dogs come from all over Europe to take our dog SUP lessons. Some dogs love it, others take a while to get used to it. But with a lot of patience and specially developed techniques for dog training, most dogs enjoy the experience and we have special dog sup boards for owners and pooches.”

Ingrid loves being involved in the SUP industry. She tells us why: “I love my job as it's an industry involved in leisure, water, nature and health. All the things I love most and are closest to my heart. “

“It is the fastest growing water sport and it will keep on growing for a couple of years yet. ikSUP is growing rapidly along with it and our next step is to get more instructors to meet demand. This summer was the busiest on record. I was working from 8-23 hrs a day. “

Ingrid has so many ideas to expand the business in the future but there are only 24 hours in the day. She says: “In October we will take a two-week holiday, then it’s back to work for a kids Halloween SUP tour and then planning for expansion next year. More and more people are joining us to try SUP so we need to meet that demand.”  Loostrecht is a very special part of the Netherlands, and if you’re looking to try SUP, book a lesson (with your dog if you have one) or explore the unique nature reserve, there is no better place than with Ingrid at ikSUP.

For more information on ikSUP click below:
https://www.academyofsurfing.com/school/stand-up-paddle/iksup

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About ASI
 
ASI is a professional membership organisation and international governing body for instructors, coaches and schools in the outdoor recreation industry for surfing, stand up paddle and bodyboarding.
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