Column: Pro-level events help put best Hawaii surfers on world stage

The caliber of surfing talent in Hawaii is perhaps unparalleled, and with local role models like John John Florence, Carissa Moore and Kai Lenny attaining global renown, island youth have clear and shining examples of how to succeed in a sport that is a part of our host culture.

That Florence, a two-time World Surf League (WSL) World Champion, won the 50th Edition of the Billabong Pipe Masters in December was poetic and fitting, and also demonstrated that Hawaii will continue to be a surfing powerhouse for the foreseeable future. Not to be outdone, four-time World Champion Carissa Moore earned a runner-up finish in the Maui Pro, which in a historic first, saw the Championship Tour (CT) women compete at Pipeline.

None of the success Hawaii’s talented surfers earn would be possible without a vibrant and viable WSL Championship Tour. After all, where would Tua Tagovaiola and Marcus Mariota be without the NFL? How would Kolten Wong and Kurt Suzuki showcase their talents with no Major League Baseball?

For Hawaii surfers, the WSL provides the same opportunities other professional athletes enjoy: competing at an elite level, earning a living, and pursuing one’s passion. Our local community follows these surfers with pride, and it’s a testament to such support that the WSL successfully completed the men’s Pipe Masters and women’s Maui Pro competitions in December.

That’s why it’s disheartening to see an opponent of professional surfing like Lane Davey disparage the WSL with baseless rumors and false innuendo (“Is it time to stop spread of corporate surf competitions?,” Island Voices, Star-Advertiser, Jan. 12). Davey’s notion that the WSL somehow contributed to a recreational surfer’s death due to a shark incident at Honolua Bay doesn’t merit discussion.

Further, inaccurate claims by Davey misrepresent and tragically discount the considerable cooperation and understanding the community demonstrated throughout the competitions, for which the WSL is extremely grateful. Beachgoers adhered to the physically-distanced, pods-of-five COVID emergency rule and were encouraged to wear masks. Beach access was never impaired, and gatherings outside of the designated filming zones on competition days were no larger than what you see on a typical North Shore weekend with good surf (the recent Super Swell Saturday crowds at Waimea, for example).

The film permits granted to the WSL were done so at the behest of, and in collaboration with, state and county officials, establishing a comprehensive COVID Safety Plan in accordance with film industry and CDC/health and safety best practices, while also following the established community rules and expectations for surf competitions. The WSL did not receive any extra competition days; both the Maui Pro and Pipe Masters were completed within the permitted 32 competition hours.

As to the WSL’s COVID Safety Plan, like other professional sports, these protocols were designed for the safety of all parties: community, staff and athletes. The WSL conducted 1,100 COVID tests before and during both competitions, with a positivity rate of 0.05%. The single-digit positive cases that occurred during the Pipe Masters were immediately isolated and contact traced, successfully containing any further spread. Davey’s unfounded claims that the WSL was “hosting large dinner parties,” and that the COVID exemption granted to surfer Yago Dora by the state was somehow different than the standard process available to anyone entering Hawaii, are factually wrong and irresponsibly inflammatory.

If we want the young men and women of these islands to have a future in professional sports, whether it be the NFL, MLB or WSL, we must continue to support safe, world-class competitions like the ones held on Oahu and Maui. Our young surfers, who dare to dream big, deserve no less.

Robin Erb, based in Haleiwa, is senior operations and marketing manager for the World Surf League.