South
African surfing has come a long way in recent years. Every year more and more
South Africans are qualifying for places on the elite World Championship Tour
(WCT), and those vying for places on the WCT are blowing up the World
Qualifying Series (WQS) with progressive turns, and aerial and barrel riding
manoeuvres. Last year, the International Surfing Association (ISA) World
Surfing Games saw a plucky Mossel Bay local named Shaun Joubert dominate the
Panamanian waves and win South Africa the gold medal. Even the perfect right
hand point that is Jeffery’s Bay is once again being featured as a stop on the
WCT. Despite these leaps forward, there are, however, still some major
drawbacks for aspiring surfers in this country.
Professional
surfing is not all sunshine and perfect barrels. There are some major financial
drawbacks that come with the decision to turn a passion into a life-long
career. For example, when team SA went to Panama for the ISA World Surfing
Games last year, they had no financial support from the South African Sports
Confederation and Olympic Committee (SASCOC). This meant that a national team of
athletes representing this wonderful country had to pay for everything out of
their own pockets. These expenses included entry and travel fees, along with
accommodation and all the other necessities one needs while executing massive
carves on the rippable waves of Santa Catalina that put other teams to shame.
These expenses were so high that Dale Staples, an original pick who was second
in the world during his stint in the junior circuit, had to reject his place on
the team.
This
problem of funding is not limited to national participation. Several South
African surfers such as Staples, Beyrick de Vries, Michael February, David van
Zyl, Faye Zoetmulder, and even big wave legend Grant “Twig” Baker, have to be
selective about which events they choose to enter around the world. Contrary to
popular belief, sponsors do not pay for plane tickets, accommodation, entry
fees or the emotional scarring caused by being dropped in on or a bad rash from
a new wetsuit. They only pay for new boards, wetsuits and other merchandise.
This
selective style of competing can result in a vicious cycle, not unlike being
caught in the impact zone. If a surfer misses an event, they risk a huge drop
in the world rankings as everyone around them climbs, and this can lead to
surfers losing places in higher rated events, and can eventually lead to a loss
of sponsors and a dream that has gone from a perfect glassy 10-foot Pipeline barrel
to two-foot onshore slop in Muizenberg.
This
lack of funding is certainly not a new problem to South African surfers. Even
the mighty Shaun Tompson slept on a thin piece of foam while he was leading the
charge and revolutionising the sport of surfing forever on the North Shore of
Hawaii in 1975 (watch the documentary "Bustin' Down the Door" for more on this, it's mindblowingly amazing). Even he had to scrape money together to compete in events, both
locally and internationally, although professional events during that period
were few and far between.
One
theory about this severe lack of funding is the stigma of a dreadlocked,
laid-back, anti-society, weed-smoking, slacker way of life that still surrounds
surfers today. This was certainly the case during Tompson’s time, but during
his reign as a top South African surfer, he and a few other Australian pioneers
systematically shattered that stigma by proving that surfing can be a
legitimate professional sport. Local and international icons like Jordy Smith,
Joel Parkinson, Kelly Slater and Travis Logie have been part of a professional
movement that has furthered the progress, with Slater’s career winnings
exceeding $3 million.
While
there is some funding to South African surfers, the large majority are left
scraping together some coins for a plane ticket in hopes of furthering their
dreams, even if it means sleeping on the beach in their boardbags. The
dedication of these few brave souls is exactly what the sport needs, and this begs
the question, what if the next Shaun Tompson, Kelly Slater or Bianca Buitendag
is sitting at home, or more likely at work, watching their surfing brethren rip
on the world’s best waves in a webcast on a small computer screen sitting in an
uncomfortable office chair, all because they couldn't afford an entry fee?
