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“You can’t be what you can’t see” is a phrase applied to many pursuits and professions.
“I’ve always been a believer in it”, says Rory Togo, Rory Togo, Indigenous surfer and committee member for Surfing Australia’s First Nations High-Performance camps.
“If you haven’t grown up with a great role model or even somebody of your own background having followed or paved the way for you, it’s hard to be a trail blazer.”
Togo is currently blazing a trail alongside a committee of Indigenous surfers and leaders to run the new First Nations Youth High-Performance Program through Surfing Australia. The inaugural program kicked off for the first time in 2023 as 16 surfers were selected to compete, receive coaching and ongoing mentorship from Indigenous surf legends like Soli Bailey and Otis Carey.
“One of the things I say to the kids is ‘a dream too big is just the right size,’” says Togo
“I’d love nothing more than to see some of these kids end up on the World Tour.”
Togo knows how big that dream is – he was one of very few First Nations Australians paddling out in a competitive Gold Coast surf scene in the 1990s. He’d go to sleep staring at wall posters of his Indigenous surf heroes at the time – Kenny Dann and Victorian surfer-turned-shaper Maurice Cole. He was a Junior Oceania Surfing Cup Champion in 2002, and later won the Open World Indigenous surf title.
With the silky lines of Kirra and Snapper on his doorstep, the Bandjalung man was never short of talented buddies to learn from. He traded waves with the likes of Mick Fanning and Joel Parkinson and is still good mates with the former World Champions. Among this prodigious Coolangatta crew, famously known as the‘Coolie Kids’ was Dean ‘Dingo’ Morrison, the first Indigenous Australian to qualify for the World Championship Tour in 2001.
But Togo admits First Nations surfers were – and still are – always under represented in the water.“Through my junior surf days, I was one of a very small handful of Indigenous surfers.When I say minority, I mean very small minority,” Togo says.“In those early days, Indigenous surf comps had a lot of purpose because it was an opportunity to connect with people on the same wavelength as me.”Today, Togo runs an Indigenous consultancy based on the Gold Coast to help businesses consider their cultural impact and operate in sensitive ways. Helping to pioneer the First Nations Youth High-Performance Program has been a highlight of his work.Participants competed for selection at the end of 2022, then were placed in the program from January to December 2023.
They attend three high-performance camps at different locations throughout the year – the first was held at Melbourne’s URBNsurf wave pool and Phillip Island in February, and the second at Lennox Head in July. A third is yet to come. The surfers also receive and follow individual training plans that prioritise wellbeing and cultural identity, in addition to technical aspects like strength and conditioning, sports psychology, life skills, trick acquisition and goal setting.
Gumbaynggirr-Bundjalung man, surfer and artist Otis Carey attended the first camp in Victoria and is an ongoing mentor to the young surfers.
“Growing up there was nothing really like this,” offers Carey.
“I only knew about three other Indigenous surfers. I never had many other Indigenous role models to look up to. If I had something like this when I was younger, I feel like I would’ve excelled in my personal life and in my surfing life. It’s just a great way for Indigenous kids to connect with other Indigenous surfers. It’s great there’s a cultural aspect to the program as well.”
All the camps, travel, training and mentoring are paid for through Surfing Australia with sponsorship from Norm J Innis Charitable Foundation and major partner Billabong, plus Mark Richards Surfboards, FCS and Surfboard Empire. It might be icky to acknowledge, but Togo says it’s an important aspect. Funding support is essential to break down barriers for Indigenous kids to get into surfing.
“One of the biggest barriers is that surfing is not a cheap sport. It’s not like soccer where you can go and buy a $10 ball and become an expert. It’s an expensive sport to get into, and it’s expensive when you start competing because then there’s travel involved,” he says.
“There are a million heroes out there for the average surfer. But when we talk about the small amount of Indigenous kids who are surfing…it’s really important to have role models and mentors who offer those kids the opportunity to see what’s possible.”
Meet the deadly Simon siblings
A dark shape appearing below your dangling feet in a lonely lineup is most surfers’ definition of terror. For the Simons, it’s a symbol of protection and hope. Sharks are a totem of the Biripi people of the mid-north NSW coast and Biripi siblings Bodhi Simon (16) and her older brother Taj Simon (19) feel a unique affinity for the ocean predator.
“One of our totems is a shark. I’ll be out in the surf and there will be a baby shark, and everyone will be freaking out around me. But I just think it’s one of our uncles or aunties passing by,” says Bodhi. “I had this moment one time, a day before my birthday, and I was surfing late out at Snapper. This shark swum under me, and I was like ooh – I had a little bit of a scare because it was dark. But then I got home and told my dad and he said, “That was probably just poppy Joe passing by, saying hello and happy birthday.”” Bodhi and Taj are two participants in the inaugural First Nations Youth High- Performance Program above. With zero fear and plenty of competitive rivalry between them, the pair are pushing hard to be among the next generation of Indigenous Australians competing on the World Tour. “Becoming a World Champion is some- thing I definitely would love to make happen,” says Bodhi. “Even if I don’t get that chance, I’d love to see one of our Indigenous surfers claiming a World Title, for sure.”
Taj says he wouldn’t even mind travelling with his little sister if it means they can both reach their goals.
“I like competing, to make the CT would be pretty good and to be able to travel the world and surf would be pretty cool. It would be really sick if both of us got to do it together. Me and Bodhi get along pretty well, we’re pretty close as siblings, I think it would be better travelling with her than other people,” Taj says.
While they now live on Bundjalung lands of the Gold Coast, the Simon siblings grew up near the notoriously shark-happy waters of Port Kembla. It was there that the oldest of the Simon kids, Summer, first took to surfing and was closely followed by Taj and then Bodhi. The family affair has come full circle, as Summer was asked to be a coordinator on the First Nations High-Performance Program that Taj and Bodhi qualified for. The fourth and young- est sibling, Malia, is also a rising talent who just claimed the under 12s title in the Snapper Rocks Surfriders Club 2023 series in September.
Despite neither of their parents surfing, Bodhi says she was always drawn to the water.
“With my Indigenous heritage, I feel like I have such a strong connection to the ocean and to the salt water. It brings me closer to my ancestors, my people, everything about my culture,” she explains.
A lot of things need to go right for any surfer to become a world champion and there are costs most of us take for granted before we can even try. Not only buying surfboards, but living within close access to a beach, and the ability to travel for waves tend to be blessings of the wealthy.
“Money is the biggest barrier [to higher Indigenous participation],” says Taj.
“I haven’t done a lot of competitions just because it’s so pricey. There are a lot of comps overseas now and it’s a lot of money to be able to get to them. If you don’t have any support it can be hard.”
Fortunately, Taj has a RVCA sponsorship and Billabong has supported Bodhi for the past four years. However, the additional financial benefits of the High- Performance Program can’t be ignored, including an arguably priceless element of ongoing coaching and mentorship from former pros.
The less-obvious barrier to participation is the challenge of gaining media and advertising exposure. It’s why an opportunity to collaborate with renowned artist and surfer Otis Carey on an Indigenous range designed for Billabong was profound for Bodhi. After meeting Carey on her first High-Performance Camp in February, he became mentor to the young surfer. Carey offered Bodhi an opportunity to be part of a photoshoot for his range and, as a result, Bodhi Simon’s name and image appears all over the Billabong website and social media.
“It was such a good opportunity to be part of his shoot for the Billabong range. I had so much fun, and I gained a lot of exposure. In that way it really helped,” she says.
“I really hope it inspires other Indigenous girls to want to get out there and surf more, to just enjoy it, have fun and not stop surfing.
“It’s so good for our people to just show that we can do it too. And for girls, young girls, for them to grow up and want to do better.”
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