Neil Godbold
Head Trainer, IKO/PKA/PKSF Examiner, BKSA National Trainer, UKKS Head of Snow Kite Training
Having been in the power kite industry since 1991 and in the British Kite Buggy Team for 3 years Neil decided to swap racing for teaching and founded Paracademy in 1999. He went on to establish both beginner and instructor training programmes for powerkiting, snowkiting, kite land boarding & Kitesurfing and has been, at one point or another, the national trainer for most of the UK's power kite governing bodies.
Neil has also been involved with the development of kite surf competition as an international kiteboarding judge in the first BMC World Tour, which lead to the foundation of the PKRA events we have now, and as part of the BKSA team in the UK.
Neil's current key role within the industry is as one of the world's few IKO and BKSA examiners who are able to both train and assess instructors worldwide. His work for the IKO extends further into the development of new instructor training methods in the whole range of kitesports instructing, which currently makes him one of only two IKO snowkite examiners in the world. This role now takes him around the globe training instructors in over 7 different countries in both hemispheres last year, with more to come in 2005.
Within the UK he works closely with the RYA, AALA and the RNLI, to develop safe working practices and rescue techniques. These rescue techniques have now been formally adopted by the RYA as part of it safety boat training programme and by the RNLI as its approved kite surf rescue approach.
On the formal education side of things Neil holds a BA degree in Sports and Recreation and a Further Education teaching certificate. This combination has led him to teach from state sector school age, through to adult education and has even at one point seen Neil involved with the development of teaching materials for the Open University.