Surfers celebrate women
For the first time since the inception of the ESA the number of girl entries into the event outnumbered their male counterparts.
MONDAY, 8 March was International Women’s Day, celebrating the success of women on all frontiers around the globe.
In a fitting tribute to the exponential growth of women in a sport formerly dominated by men, the eThekwini Surfriders Association (ESA) was delighted when 33 young girls aged between eight and 15 years old entered the 2021 season opening event at the weekend, on 7 March at Durban’s uShaka Beach.
For the first time since the inception of the ESA the number of girl entries into the event outnumbered their male counterparts.
The turnout for the women’s event bore testament to the depth and calibre of talent in KwaZulu-Natal which bodes well for the future of the sport which makes its Olympic debut in Tokyo, Japan in July.
“It’s just unbelievable,” said former national team member and professional surfer Paul Canning, who serves as the chairman on the ESA committee.
“It was a first for our junior event here in KZN, or even South Africa, where we actually had more girls enter than boys. Out of the 60 entries, 33 were young girls from various backgrounds, showing that transformation is also a big part of ESA surfing. We also had several young girls from Surfers Not Street Children participate in the event. With International Women’s Day being celebrated on 8 March, and to have so many young girls entered into a surfing event, it’s phenomenal to see and we couldn’t be more proud.”
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