ISA ANNOUNCES HOST OF 2008 QUIKSILVER ISA WORLD JUNIOR SURFING CHAMPIONSHIP
San Diego, Calif. September 5, 2007 The International Surfing Association (ISA), the World Governing Authority for surfing, has chosen France as the location for the 2008 Quiksilver ISA World Junior Surfing Championship. The event will be organized by the ISAs National Governing Body for surfriding in France, Federation Francaise de Surf (FFS).
France last hosted an ISA event in 1992 with the World Surfing Games in Lacanau. The ISA is very happy to go back to the great waves of France. By having the event in late May, we will be able to have great waves. I would like to thank Quiksilver Europe President Pierre Agnes for his leadership in bringing this event back to France, said ISA President Fernando Aguerre.The Quiksilver ISA World Junior Surfing Championship has become the premier annual junior surfing event. Past competitors include WCT, WQS and other notable surfers such as Jordy Smith, Stephanie Gilmore, Tonino Benson, Julian Wilson, Jeremy Flores, Sally Fitzgibbons and Bethany Hamilton.
The 2008 event is sure to have more standout performances as surfers compete in Under 16 and Under 18 categories.
Since 2003, this yearly event has been in Africa (Durban), in the South Pacific (Tahiti), North America (Huntington Beach) and Europe (Portugal). In 2008, the event will return to Europe in Hossegor, France. With over 30 National Delegations forecasted to compete in France, the diversity of races, languages, religions and cultures, have turned the Quiksilver ISA World Junior Surfing Championship into Surfing’s Junior Olympic-style event. The exposure of young surfers to other peoples and cultures is part of an unmatched experience for all participants.
The event will be broadcast live on the internet and will feature commentary from former World Champion Martin Potter and live scoring. Webcasting details will be available as the event nears.
[b]History of Surfing, the ISA and the WJSC[/b]
The roots of surfing reach back to the early Pacific islands when the ancestors of Polynesians and others started exploring the ocean and islands around them. While there is no specific date as to when the first wave was ever surfed, it is generally known that by the 1700s, Hawaiians had begun to amaze foreign sailors and explorers with their wave-riding skills.
Surfing continued to develop in Hawaii and gained international importance in the 1900s when the famous Hawaiian surfer Duke Kahanamoku won the gold medal for swimming in the 1912 Olympic Games. Within the context of public relations, an exhibition tour was organized throughout the world, which enabled many countries to be exposed to surfing. As a result, surfing grew in popularity, and in 1964 during the first World Surfing Championships near Sydney, Australia, the ISF (International Surfing Federation) was created. This association gathered all the surfing nations together and began organizing world championships every other year. In November 1976, in Hawaii, the ISF gave way to the ISA (International Surfing Association).
The ISA is the worlds governing authority for surfing and all its disciplines, including bodyboard, kneeboard, longboard, skimboard and bodysurf. The ISA governs the sports and works for their development in its member nations and the establishment of the sport of surfing in new places.
Every other year, the ISA holds the World Surfing Games for ISAs member nations. Historically, the World Surfing Games grants to its winners the title of World Champion. The ISA also sanctions a large number of competitions worldwide. The ISA World Surfing Games is also one of the largest events in competitive surfing.
The first year in which the biennial World Surfing Games held a Juniors division was 1980 in Biarritz, France. With the huge and continuing growth of surfing worldwide, as well as in junior surfing performance and participation, in 2002, the ISA wisely decided to hold the Junior division of the World Surfing Games in its very own annual event, separate from the World Surfing Games. The plan of separating these events is to provide twice the amount of competitions and opportunities for the younger athletes as well as for a larger number of hosting nations. The former Junior division of the World Surfing Games, along with what used to be the annual Quiksilver ISA World Grommet titles, were consolidated into this new event, the ISA World Junior Surfing Championships, which was first hosted in 2003 in South Africa. This event in France will however be the 18th ISA Junior event and the 4th ISA WJSC sponsored by Quiksilver.
Since 1996, the Sands of the World Ceremony have been held during the Opening Ceremony of the WSG to represent the true fraternal spirit that bonds together all members of the Surfing Tribe. The WJSC has also taken on this ISA tradition in its Opening Ceremonies. The Union of the countries of the world in this ceremony is done through the mixing of the sands from the shores of all participating delegations, symbolizing the ISA hopes for a peaceful world.
The ISA will continue to promote these Games as the true Olympics of surfing. With gold, silver bronze, and copper medals awarded, the athletes will be competing for the honor to represent their country and national colors and will surf for the pure joy of it, in the true nature of surfings aloha spirit.
About Internatioanl Surfing Association
The International Surfing Association (ISA) is recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) as the World Governing Authority for surfing, bodyboarding and surfriding. It was originally founded as the International Surfing Federation in 1964 and has been running world championships since 1964 and the Junior World Championships since 1980.
ISA membership includes the surfing National Governing Bodies (NGBs) of over 50 countries on six continents. Its headquarters are located in San Diego, California. It is presided by Fernando Aguerre, first elected in 1994 in Rio, and re-elected six times since. The ISA’s four Vice Presidents are Alan Atkins (Australia), Robin de Kock (South Africa), Maile Aguerre (Hawaii) and Mike Gerard (USA).