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19/06/2007:// An elite band of British pro surfers are set to make a splash on the UK's first ever Wet Tour training initiative.
Pro clinics hosted by Mark Harris, Llewellyn Whitaker and Dominique Kent have helped hundreds of amateur surfers to fine tune their waveriding skills.
Now the English Surfing Federation is expanding its clinics after Freespirit announced it will be extending its sponsorship of the organisation four-fold for the rest of 2007.
The new deal will see the Freespirit ESF Surf School hitting the road this coming weekend and special free pro clinics will be run in Plymouth, Bournemouth, Porthcawl, in South Wales and Witterings, near Southampton.
This first of its kind ‘Wet Tour’ will see the Newquay based school giving people across these locations the opportunity to meet and learn from some of England’s top pro surfers and the sponsorship will assist the day-to-day work of the ESF itself as the official governing body of English surfing.
Further to the Wet Tour, Freespirit will also be supporting the ESF’s commitment to families and the aim of bringing people of all ages into the sport.
Over the August bank holiday, the Freespirit ESF Surf School, based on Headland Road overlooking Fistral Beach, will be running four special free family proclinics. These will allow parents and children a unique opportunity to take to the waves for free together with a top English surfer to guide them along the way.
All profits from the surf school, generated from the lessons sales, are ploughed straight back into supporting promising English surfers and providing the funding for them to attend the European Surf Championships in France this June.
Freespirit Brand Manager, Adam Smith, said: “We initially entered the sponsorship last year to see what we could do to support the sport at the grassroots level. As a top surf clothing and hardware retailer we believe that we have an important role to play and we were so delighted with the success of last year’s work that we are in no doubt that by extending this fourfold can only help the ESF in its everyday work whilst at the same time, enabling us to work together to introduce hundreds of new people to the sport.
"I’m really looking forward to seeing the Freespirit ESF Proclinic format out in the new locations and to seeing so many more families taking to the water this August,” he added.
Rob Barber, Head Coach of the Freespirit ESF Surf School and of the English Surf Team said: “The 2006 sponsorship was a perfect example of how a brand and not-for-profit organisation can work hand-in-hand to help benefit surfing and its participants. Last year’s sponsorship helped the organisation immensely and this year’s major development will help take us to even higher levels whilst continuing to help us meet our ongoing aims of getting lots more converts into our amazing sport.”
National Director of the ESF Pauly Jeffery added: “Without any official sporting body support, our surf school is our key generator of funding to support all of our efforts and without a doubt, the profits from the 2007 sponsorship work will help us all support the English Surfing Team as we prepare for the European Championships in France this summer.”
Since its inception in the 1970s, The ESF has provided funding, plus a recognised mentoring structure, for all of England’s promising young surfers and all of today’s key English stars – Russell Winter, Alan Stokes, Robyn Davies and Lee Bartlett – have gratefully received ESF support throughout their careers.
In the last year alone, it cost the ESF well over £25K to provide its support network, funding, programmes, contests and events. This backing paid for members of the English team’s entry into international contests and membership to the European Surfing Federation. Further to this, ESF volunteers ran continual surf clinics around the country, created specific workshops for recognised talent, managed a grommet tour and organised and ran the English National Championships.
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Cornwall's Ruebyn Ash put in a superb performance to reach his second European Pro Junior final of the season
Skins "King of the Groms" Contest and Spencer Hargraves raise £800
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