This season we're excited to share with you some new special 'extended' members of the FatFace family. They don't work for us, they're just out there doing their own thing and owning it. Just like us (and you) these people are looking for something that's more than just ordinary so we want to share their stories with you.

We hope you'll be just as inspired as we are when you read a little more about these guys…

The Bridge family stand on the beach with stormy clouds behind them

Say hello to Team Bridge

Team Bridge are a family of kitesurfers, based in Exmouth, Devon. Five times world kite race champion, Steph heads up the family with husband Eric. Their three sons; Olly, Guy and Tom are all champion kitesurfers too, travelling all over the world to compete in global competitions.

When back home in Exmouth, the boys help their parents run the family business, Edge Watersports, giving back to the local community by teaching the up-and-coming kitesurfers of the future how to progress in the sport to the highest level, completely free of charge. They encourage youngsters to have their own adventure on the water, and we love this about them.

We recently caught up with Steph to get the inside track on all things Team Bridge…

Steph Bridge lying down on the sand wearing shades

How it all began

"Eric and I were very keen windsurfers and since our honeymoon in 1997 in Maui where we first saw a kite towing an open canoe, we had ordered a seaquad which we learnt to fly on the sand banks in Exmouth. We adjusted one of our windsurf boards so we used this to make our first waterstarts. It took 3 months for the water kite to arrive, which was a 2 line free-air.

Eric and I shared the kite but we got really frustrated waiting for each other to have their turn. So we soon invested in our second kite and managed to buy a revolutionary twin tip. We only just had Tom, our 3rd son, so life was busy and tricky to get the time to learn the sport. All we wanted to do was jump high!"

Eric Bridge wearing a straw hat and smiling
Steph Bridge assembling her kite together

Start them young

"Our boys were brought up at our sailing school - all of them tied knots, messed about in boats and learnt to sail at very young age. Olly sailed competitively but at age 10 he learnt to kitesurf and really dedicated his time to kitesurfing. Meanwhile Guy and Tom flew small power kites on the land at every opportunity, and we soon got them in the water.

Guy was age 9 and Tom age 7. Their First competition was a Youth British Freestyle event a year later, where they also entered the Youth European Championships. Both Olly and Tom won in their categories. They also starred on Blue Peter - a very proud moment!"

Two of the Bridge boys sat on the beach
One of the Bridge boys

The youth academy

"We have always loved getting young people into watersports and when we enabled our boys to take up the sport, we wanted to ensure that other youngsters had similar opportunities, so we started our Youth Academy.

At Edge we run sessions on the land and follow up with sessions on the water every weekend. We were perhaps the only school in the UK to really embrace the younger generation, from at least 2009 onwards when the gear was getting safer.

A kite floats in the air above the kitesurfers stood on a sandy beach
Kitesurfers laughing on the beach

Very soon it became apparent that the youngsters we had taught started to do the sport just like we had, with their parents. Then, the youngsters make massive progress and it's not long before they start doing the British Circuit. So, the level was going up and the local Youth scene was growing fast.

We re-branded the Youth Training Programme this year and now have Bronze, Silver, Gold levels within our Youth Academy.

Currently we are fundraising to help send the selected GB athletes (all 4 of them part of the Team Bridge Youth Academy) to the Youth Olympic Qualifiers in Morocco in 2018. Exciting times!"

Find out more about Team Bridge here.

Steph Bridge with Team Bridge stood behind her
Steph Bridge walking along the beach holding onto her kite
A young kitesurfer carrying his board