The Path from Amateur to Professional Surfer

You have been competing as an amateur and doing well. Your goal is to become a pro surfer on the ASP World Tour. How to you get from here to there? What is the best way to make the transition?

 

Your ASP (Association of Surfing Professionals) Region has Junior Pro and Pro events. It is good to start with Junior Pro events as soon as you can. Junior Pro events are open to people 20 and under. You cannot turn 21 during the competition year and surf a Junior Pro. 

 

You can look on www.aspworldtour.com and look up the Juniors schedule on the events pull down menu. Find the Junior Pro events in your region and plan on surfing in as many of them as possible. Each region keeps track of their Junior ratings. Having points in your region can help you when entering into an event in another region. Some Junior events seed a certain amount of juniors from other regions. This is not a set rule though, because the Junior Pro events are not a tour like the WQS or the World Tour.

 

You must pay your dues to your ASP Regional Office, just as you paid your dues to the NSSA or whatever amateur associations you belong to. Junior and WQS regional membership dues (for 2007) are $200. International membership is $1,100, which includes an emergency health insurance policy. Since the membership is shown as dues, it may be tax deductible, so check with your accountant. The competition year is a calendar year, January 1 through December 31. If you join in October, your membership ends on December 31. Entries are generally due one month before the contest. Check the closing date for entries on the schedule.  

 

You will start with no ratings points. Ratings points are earned by you placing in the Junior Pro contests. You only get ratings points in your region. You may surf the Junior Pro in the US Open, but the points only count if you are in the North America Region. Your ratings points from the previous year give you your seeding position during the current competition year; your ratings points from the current year determine who you will compete against. That is how some people get into rounds farther into the contest than you when you start. The people with the best ratings points from the previous year are placed into the main event. It is not who you know or how early your entry is sent in, but seeding points that give you your entry round.

 

The top 5 surfers from each region in the Junior Pro Series and the highest rated Junior on the WQS ratings are invited to the World Junior Pro in North Narabeen, Australia. The World Junior Pro usually runs from January 1 – January 9. If you make the finals in the WJP, you are guaranteed a slot in all ASP WQS contests that you enter in on time. If the winner or runner up in the WJP already have a seeded spot in the WQS in the round where they would be seeded, the next surfer (=3^rd) gets the spot. This will greatly help you earn points on the WQS.

 

You should also try to do some WQS Pro events when you are young. WQS events are rated from 1 star to 6 star prime and Super Series. Again, you start with no points and work your way up. When you start, it will be easier to get into 1 to 3 star events because you have no seed points, but entry is not guaranteed. The surfers chasing the points to make the ASP World Tour don’t usually bother with the smaller events. If you win a 1 star, you get 250 points. A two star win gives you 500 points. A Super Series event win brings you 3,500 points. To make the ASP World Tour, you need around 10,000 points in your best 7 contests, so you can see why the top surfers don’t bother with the smaller events. You usually need to be    in the top 200 to get into a 5 star event and up, so you have to work your way up.

 

Several of the smaller events in North America are coupled with Junior Pro events. If you enter both, you get more bang for your buck! You get ratings points for both, (if you are in the North America Region), improving your seed for the following year. If you aren’t in the North America Region, you get valuable experience and maybe some money and impress your sponsor! Just remember that the Junior event is not a tour, it is a regional event. If you are entering a Junior event outside your region, you are not guaranteed a slot. Depending on the event size, a hosting region might give other regions up to 6 slots. Your region will submit their list of Juniors by their ratings points.

 

If you are really good, and very friendly with your sponsor, you might be able to get your sponsor to give you a wild card slot to an event that they sponsor. This puts you in the main round, and can really jump start your season and career. 

 

If you can manage to get into the top 120 in the WQS in the first half of the year, you are guaranteed a slot in the bigger events. This is not easy to do in your first year as a pro, but it is a definite goal for your second year.

 

It is important not to get discouraged when you move up to the professional circuit. You may be used to winning a lot of events in you region in the amateur divisions, but you may not even make it through a heat for a while when you turn pro. You will be surfing against the best people from every region. Many events are in places that you have never been or surfed. The WQS doesn’t have waiting periods, so you get the waves and tides that are thrown at you. There are a lot of distractions. You will be on the road in strange places. You may not speak the language. You will be looking for places to stay. You will be meeting new friends; some of them will not be good influences. You will try new foods. You will get homesick. Most of all, you will be surfing against people who have been you inspiration, and you will need to beat them. It is a learning and growing experience.

 

Enjoy your experiences. Keep a log book so you remember the good breaks, restaurants and hotels. Network with people so you can stay with them in their area; let them stay with you if a contest is in your area. Stay together with travel partners while on the road. Always stay in touch with your sponsors and family and let them know how you are doing. Your sponsors may be able to set you up with their area sales reps or marketing people for housing and meals.