Africa Surfing Tour 2024 kicks off in Robertsports
Grand Cape Mount County will be the place of attraction when international Surfing stars come together to compete in the African surfing Tour.
The competition is organized by the Liberian Surfing Association and African Surfing Confederation. It is hosted under the theme' "Africa Tour 24 Surf to Rise, Surf's Up, Liberia! Join the Wave."
According to the organizers, the weeklong international event will kick off today May 23 with over 20 athletes battling to secure qualifications for the Olympics games in France.
The president of the Liberia Surfing federation Naquetta Ricks said they learned about the Africa Surfing tour which is a new event in Africa at the beginning of 2024.
Ghana was the designated location for the 2024 African surfing Tour but due to some technical reasons they couldn't and Liberian took advantage of the inability to host the event.
Madam Ricks said they have always dreamt about an athlete from Liberia representing the country at the Olympics in surfing and thought it was a good opportunity to showcase Liberia to the world in surfing.
"This event came about because the African Surfing Confederation got recognized by the international Surfing Association," Ricks said.
According to her, the tour is a way of giving athletes the chance to qualify for the Olympics games.
Speaking on Intel Sports program, "Talk Sports," Madam Ricks said she is hopeful Liberians can take advantage of the competition to qualify for the Olympics in 2026 and the world Surfing tour.
She said the sport is a billion dollars industry but in Africa it is a little known sport. However, she believes that with more support, Liberia can make a name in the world because the country has one of the top surfing destinations in the world.
"We have over ten Liberians who will be competing in the tour and we are optimistic that they will come out with flying colors for the country, most especially when the competition is taking place in Liberia."
"Our guys are ready for this competition and have been training for months, this is a good chance to make history in this new sport," Madam Ricks said.
She told the program that over 20 foreign athletes will be competing in the competition that will qualify the winners for the Olympics games.
When asked about the financial struggle that comes with hosting such a tournament, the Liberia Surfing federation president who is also a representative of the state of Colorado in the United States of America said they have a budget of over one hundred and twenty thousand United States dollars to take care of and are trying to work in it.
She admitted that the Ministry of Youth and Sports has been supportive of the competition and is sure in the future the sports will be given some support by the government.
The competition will begin on the 23- 28 and will also show the tourism part of Liberia which will bring about economic benefits to the people of Grand Cape Mount County.
Madam Ricks disclosed that Liberia has several good sites for Surfing including Maryland, Grand Bassa and Sinoe counties.
She is therefore calling on Liberians to Support their Local Surfers as they compete on home Waves in such international contests.
Surfing is a surface water sport in which an individual, a surfer (or two in tandem surfing), uses a board to ride on the forward section, or face, of a moving wave of water, which usually carries the surfer towards the shore. Waves suitable for surfing are primarily found on ocean shores, but can also be found in standing waves in the open ocean, in lakes, in rivers in the form of a tidal bore, or in wave pools.
The term surfing refers to a person riding a wave using a board, regardless of the stance. There are several types of boards. The Moche of Peru would often surf on reed craft, while the native peoples of the Pacific surfed waves on alaia, paipo, and other such watercraft. Ancient cultures often surfed on their belly and knees, while the modern-day definition of surfing most often refers to a surfer riding a wave standing on a surfboard; this is also referred to as stand-up surfing.
Another prominent form of surfing is bodyboarding, where a surfer rides the wave on a bodyboard, either lying on their belly, drop knee (one foot and one knee on the board), or sometimes even standing up on a bodyboard. Other types of surfing include knee boarding, surf matting (riding inflatable mats) and using foils. Body surfing, in which the wave is caught and ridden using the surfer's own body rather than a board, is very common and is considered by some surfers to be the purest form of surfing.
