1. What was surfing on the pro tour like for you in the early years?
Well, the women’s pro surfing tour began officially in 1977. Before 1977 there were events in different places, a variety of small events around the world. Always a few in Hawaii but there was no tour, no path to the world title for women. In 1977, the IPS began with a few solid events that required a commitment to traveling and competing to gain world tour points. Peter Townend had won the first men’s world title in 1976. We just said, “The guys did it, so now there’s a legitimate way to crown a world champ. And with the IPS including the women it became official” As it turned out, the system was okay, but as with anything there needed to be some tweaking. For instance, in Brazil, they would run heats 1, 2, and 3 in the morning during high tide and then compare the scores to low tide heats later in the afternoon with completely different wave conditions. Then the format would be different in Japan or wherever the next contest was held. You couldn’t go into a contest with a strategy. There were definitely growing pains, and the judges…you’ve probably heard the story of the Stubbies in Australia when they held a bikini contest while our heat was in the water. Everyone had their backs to the water, including the judges. It was a ridiculous process we had to fix. We were saying, “This can’t happen.” So we worked to fix it.
It took a lot of work to get the tour to where it is today. There were a lot of competing forces. One battle was the men versus the women. There was so little prize money and it had to be divided into two different prize pools-men and women. Some of the men (usually the trialists who were making the least) were thinking that the women were taking their prize money and didn’t want us around to dilute it. The ones who came after us had it easier for sure. We had to fight for our money. That’s why I made it a priority for the WPS to get our own prize money sponsors and bring them into the tour when I could. It was survival of the fittest, and there was only so much money to go around. But no one was going to push us out of this game- and there was always push back, especially in Australia.
The whole concept of women’s sport was not accepted. Girls weren’t playing soccer and using sports as a way to higher education in the late 70’s. Surfing was just a microcosm really of what was happening with women in sports in general in America. Things moved fast with Title 9 which created an open ended position for female college students. It really changed the game. If you look back, there was no pipeline for women into sports. They didn’t have a voice. We didn’t have a voice. We were surfer girls trying to get respect on the world stage of surfing. Sure some of the progress has to do with me being on the ASP board, meeting with contest directors and standing up for the girls. But we didn’t have Roxy and women’s lines, so the only push could come from us. I mean the reason there is a Roxy women’s line is not because one girl wore trunks. We were all wearing trunks. Things changed because there was an involvement of women in the changes. Participation of women in the sport has risen and may have peaked, but I don’t think that women’s surfing has reached its potential. It takes a combination of strong leaders and talented athletes and that has to continue.
2. How did the “Golden Girls” fit in with your efforts to further the sport?
It was 1979 or 80 and the idea was a semi-parallel thing to Bronzed Aussies. This was a brand new sport looking to bring money in, and no one knew what they were doing- there wasn’t a business model to follow. We just wanted to find a way to make more money and keep surfing, so we tried to emulate the marketing idea of PT and Ian’s Bronzed Aussies. We were the California Golden Girls. It was silly I guess, a moment in time, but we were trying to elevate women in surfing. The idea was to grow the number of girls in the water, but in retrospect that wasn’t the right approach.
3. What exactly was the WPS? There are mentions of “clinics” and “pro-am events.” Was there more to it?
Yeah, it’s had a strong historical lens, so I’m glad you asked that. There were a handful of girls. In Hawaii, there was Jericho Popplar, Cherie Gross, and Rell Sunn among others. The WPS was meant to solidify our voice and go out and get support like a union of our own. Cherie’s mom was the secretary. We wrote up the guidelines and gathered dues and hoped for the best. It sort of fizzled out. And then in 1981 about 5 years later with the WPS lying dormant, I helped start the Mazda Women’s Pro Tournament in California. It was the one that Frieda won that really signaled her arrival. I just wanted to shine up women’s surfing, so I resurrected the WPS name and created a cool logo and shopped for sponsors to recognize women’s surfing, to give it visibility. We built a pro series. I was able to bring more women’s prize money to events in Hawaii too. It was all about pro surfing and I personally ran this out of my house or on the phone from Hawaii calling NYC –it was seat of the pants marketing direct from the athlete to the sponsor. Quite unique.
How do you remember your world title year?
Well it kicked off with a win at Bells which is a long-winded event because there were so many rounds and they didn’t allow leashes and the waves were huge. And then I did well in a series of events/ Pam Burridge and I were neck and neck. When we got to California and surfed in my event, the Mazda, things were tough. It was a specialty event. It ran surfing, Hobie Cat racing, and a relay race… I was assisting a marketing company from New York with it and they had the triathlon idea and included women’s surfing. I was surfing and running the event and ended up getting 13th in that one. Then we finished the tour in Hawaii and I just barely got the win over Pam so I won the World Title. That year was a lot of work. I was running events and repping on the ASP board. We transitioned that year to the ASP. It was a monumental year for pro surfing. Pro surfing was at its low point -prize money wise- in the early 80’s and then it took off by 1984. I didn’t want to do all of that marketing, but no one else would.
4. During your time as an ASP rep, what do you see as your major accomplishments?
It was the maintaining of the tour. I dwindled out of competition in 1984, but I worked as a rep until 1991 and really wanted to improve the women’s tour. There would be three day meetings world wide with different event directors who were repping their sponsors and we (as surfers’ reps) had to fight for surfers’ interests and if there hadn’t been someone representing women during that time, things would have very possibly deteriorated.
5. As a world champ, contest organizer and producer of the movie “Surfer Girls,” you have a unique perspective on women’s surfing. Where do you see women heading?
This is an exiting time for women’s surfing because the talent pool is off the charts right now and they are a young age. I just want to see them continue to work hard at improving their surfing talent and give the sponsors solid reasons to support them. Worldwide, women’s surfing is gaining the respect that has been due for a long time. All of the previous champions have made a mark along the way and it’s exciting to see the momentum finally taking off.
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