ASP 4-star Men’s and Junior Pro event included: 2011 East Coast Surfing Championships
The Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) 4-star Men’s and Junior Pro event will be getting added to the East Coast Surfing Championships (ECSC), scheduled to run from August 22-28 at the Virginia Beach in Virginia, USA.
The announcement about the addition of the 4-star ASP event to the Championships was made by William B. Sessoms Jr., Mayor of the Virginia Beach, and Vans, the renowned American-based action sports shoes, apparel and accessories manufacturing company. They
made the announcement at a press conference on Tuesday, April 19.
The announcement of the 4-Star ASP event has indeed stirred a lot of excitement among the surfing fans living in the East Coast. The talented surfers of the area are also thrilled over the news.
The manager of Coastal Edge in Virginia Beach and 1980-81 ECSC champ, Wes Laine, further added to the hype of the upcoming event by revealing, “This will be the highest prize purse by far [$85,000 for the men, $20,000 for juniors] and the highest ratings
points since Taylor Knox won in 1999.”
One of the most popular surfing event in the East Coast, ECSC draws around 100,000 of spectators and talented surfers to Virginia Beach in August each year. However, it has not been an ASP-sanctioned event since a decade. In fact, the entire East Coast has
been devoid of ASP-sanctioned events for the last two years, except for a few junior pro contests. The last major ASP event that took place in East Coast was in 2009, when the Quiksilver Pro was held at the New York Beach.
ECSC is one of the prime amateur event for the United States Surfing Federation (USSF). It attracts hundreds of talented riders to compete and earn East Coast surfing titles, prizes and most importantly, exposure and recognition. Under the umbrella of the
USSF, the event, which initially started off as a surfing contest, has progressed to become something far more. 40 new divisions have been added to the East Coast’s premier beach sports festival. Aside from surfing, the event now features other beach oriented
sports such as skimboarding, volleyball, street skate and ram contests, live concerts, swimsuit contests, food and drinks, a boardwalk 5K run and a long-board event.
Virginia Beach Javcees, a non-profit organisation, runs the event. Vans became associated with the event last year. According to Laine, “Vans involvement has been huge for the event. They bring a wide variety of support, team riders, and ideas.”
The ASP 4-star Men’s and Junior Pro events will definitely make ECSC extra special this year. Now that the stakes have been raised, the surfers are expected to go all out on the surfboards in order to win. The upcoming event promises heavy dose of exciting
surfing action at Virginia Beach.
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