“For those of you we haven’t met yet, you’ll recognise us as the ones who appear to have a vitamin D deficiency compared to you all!” the head of Target announced to a room of laughter at the opening jaunt of the Target Maui Pro. The general merchandise giant is based in Minnesota, landlocked Northern America, which is currently 4ºC and expecting snow. Looking outside, I remember we’re in paradise.
They’re probably not the first word on anyone’s lips when it comes to surf sponsorship, but Target are doing what other sponsors have not. They are taking the women’s world tour into a Hawaiian finale.
The last few years on the women’s WCT have been a little uncomfortable. Events were cancelled due to lack of swell and world titles were being crowned almost six months before the men even arrived on Oahu.
“You know, the women’s tour was almost non existent. We were surfing beach breaks the whole year and finishing at Huntington, and that’s kind of a problem” Tyler Wright told me as we sat in the hotel boardroom over looking Honolua Bay. Steph felt it too. “For me, 2013 was a little bit draining and I was kind of a bit tired of it all.” World’s best surfers in the world’s best waves just wasn’t a motto that applied to women’s surfing. Then the privatization occurred.
“To have the new ASP come in and inject this vision, with everything from more financial support and opportunities to new waves, it was suddenly exactly where I wanted to be” Steph continued. Part of the ASP/ZoSea merger has been bringing in new sponsors like Target. If they feel affiliated enough to support great events and progress the sport, then why not?
Target signed on as the naming sponsor to the last event on the women’s CT in August, but their relationship with surfing has been growing for a while. Target counts Carissa Moore, Kolohe Andino and snowboarder Shaun White on their extreme sports athlete list. Kolohe has been with them since 2010 and Carissa since 2009. Both of these surfers have dedicated a lot of energy to the sport and individually, have helped take it to a new level.
While there have been many arguments about whether all this movement is in the right direction for competitive surfing, one line seems to be resonating through the crowd. We’re being listened to.
“The communication that we have with this new ASP is great. They are listening to us as surfers and they want to know what we think will help grow the sport.” And who knows that better than a teenager who won her first World Title in her rookie year and whether she wins her 6th this month or not, is one of the greatest female athletes of the sport.
The bikinis might be Piping Hot and not Rip Curl, but Target is echoing this same sentiment. “Women’s surfing deserves to finish in the same place as the men’s” the top boss finished his speech and we all toasted to this Pacific haven.
Tyler Wright won Rookie Of The Year in 2011. She was 14 when she won her first WCT event. She’s Australian and calls the east coast home. I ask her about the criticism of the renaming the Association of Surfing Professionals to the World Surf League to be enforced January 1, 2015. Most of the backlash seems to be coming from the land down under. Is the sport being taken away from us?
“The thing is, it has. The truth of it is, it’s been taken over. But something had to change. I don’t know who said it but insanity is repeating something over and over again expecting a different result.”
“You know, they [the fans] love what they see. They love the surfing that they see. But they don’t like change. Come on guys. We have fantastic people coming in, and yes they have taken it over, but they’ve also listened to what the surfers have said. They’ve got us waves! They’ve got us Maui, Fiji, they got us Trestles. Three amazing events that were previously unimaginable for the women’s tour. When it comes to the backlash you can call it whatever you want and people will blow up because it’s change.” 
Back in California at the Trestles event, I talk to a local SoCal surfer, what do you think of the WSL? “It sounds a bit like a marvel comic, like everyone is going to start wearing capes and superhero outfits. For me, as long as the webcast is good and the waves are good then I’m happy.” It’s a feeling you can get out of the Australian crowd too. “WSL sounds shit, just another step towards Americanization. But how good was JBay? And did you see Chopes?!”
I was in Indonesia when the South African event was broadcast. There were about 100 of us rammed into a restaurant off Poppies 2 with someone’s computer plugged into a big screen. I was on the beers with some of the Schapelle Corby family and her brother in law couldn’t get enough of Wilko on his backhand. The only criticism then was when the power fell out.
It’s not that surfing hasn’t been covered before and covered well, but the investment in the production this year must be a step in the right direction. The amount of effort that goes into set up, running the show and post-production is phenomenal. Mini mobile cities are created on sand dunes, in the middle of the Pacific Ocean and in asphalt car parks. Footage is captured from the water, the sky and multiple angles. Sites aren’t stadiums and take days to set up and days to pull down. You can watch it from the comfort of your own home and it’s all completely free. Bells beach was the only event that required cash payment to physical visitors but understandably so, as it’s a conservation area.
“There’s constructive feedback and there’s straight out negative. I surf on the world tour and this is by far the best year and the most coverage the women’s tour has ever had. Well I haven’t actually seen the stats, it may not be, but I feel like it is” Tyler concluded.
When I quizzed Steph about her feelings on the WSL she said, “Oh yeah! I keep forgetting it’s the World Surf League now…” as if the name didn’t matter so much as the fact she’s heading into a near solo session at Honolua Bay. “I think it’s a step in the right direction and an incredible time for any professional surfer.”
As long as the webcast is good and the waves are good, then can’t we come around?
