Stephanie Gilmore and Coco Ho disappointed to find no contest in Hawaii for women
Two of surfing’s most notable female surfers, Stephanie Gilmore of Australia and Hawaii’s Coco Ho, have expressed their disappointment over not find any contest for women in Hawaii this year.
The former four-time Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) Women’s World Tour Champion, Gilmore, conceded that it was the responsibility of ASP, the governing body of surfing since 1983, to bring the women to Hawaii during their campaign for the World Title.
The 23-year-old New South Wales-resident believes that the absence of opportunity to get represented in Hawaii this year had indeed been a step backwards for women surfing. However, she did not put the blame of not bringing the women’s tour to North Shore on the shoulders of ASP entirely, but also held the reduced willingness of the companies to sponsor the event responsible.
"Perhaps our tour is not packaged well enough to be marketed the best possible way for companies to want to be involved,” said Gilmore. “Cracking the magic code of getting men and women interested in watching female sports is a task across many women's sports. The talent on tour has come so far, but that's only half of it. The rest of the equation is business.”
The 20-year-old Ho, who finished the 2012 Women’s World Tour in sixth place, was not too happy with the treatment received by women’s surfing. It was the first time in her life that there North Shore had not played host to a women’s event.
With the waves looking as good as ever, Ho and the rest of the female surfers are forced to sit and enjoy the view instead of getting in there and battling it out for glory in excellent surfing conditions.
“I hope this has made everyone step back and think, 'Wow. The women are getting pretty bad treatment.' I think it's going to turn around next year,” said the local surfer.
The thrilling action during the shortened version of the ASP Women’s World Tour had helped in bringing female surfing under the spotlight this year. Interestingly, it had been a Hawaiian talent, Carissa Moore, who had walked away with the highest honour in surfing, the ASP World Title. Unfortunately for her and her local fans, she was not able to put up a performance for them in her own backyard.
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