Christopher C Walker
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.
0 comments:
Post a Comment