THE PROFESSIONAL

Is there anyone better than our beloved Oklahoman Chief Of Executives to the Global Home Of Surfing at maintaining a professional, faultless stance when it comes to defending the integrity of the sport? I believe not. Read below, where none other than The Mr. Erik Logan responds to the stone throwing athletes which we just discussed here.

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“To the WSL community,

I want to address the conversation that happened in our community following the recent Championship Tour event at the Surf Ranch. As you likely know, a small number of athletes made statements questioning the judging of the competition and the final results.

I want to respond directly to those statements, however, we first need to address a much more important issue. In recent days, a number of surfers, WSL judges and employees have been subject to harassment, intimidation, and threats of violence, including death threats, as a direct result of those statements. Those things should never happen in our sport or in any sport, and we’re devastated that members of our community have been subject to them. It is an important reminder to us all that words have consequences. We hope the entire WSL community stands with us in rejecting all forms of harassment and intimidation.

In terms of the statements made, we completely reject the suggestion that the judging of our competitions is in any way unfair or biased. These claims are not supported by any evidence.

Firstly, the judging criteria are provided to the athletes ahead of each competition. All athletes competing at the Surf Ranch Pro received these materials on May 20th. Every athlete had the opportunity to ask questions about the criteria at that time. None of the athletes who made these statements took advantage of this opportunity at the Surf Ranch Pro. 

Secondly, our rules allow any athlete to review the scoring of any wave, with the judges, and receive a more detailed explanation of how they were scored with the judges. This process has been in place for a number of years, and is the direct result of working with the surfers to bring more transparency to the judging process. It is not acceptable, and is a breach of league policy, for surfers to choose not to engage with the proper process and instead air grievances on social media. 

A number of athletes at the Surf Ranch Pro received points for elements such as progression and variety, so it is simply incorrect to suggest these are not taken into account in the judging criteria. Furthermore, our rules have been applied consistently throughout the season, including at events this season that were won by athletes who are now questioning those same rules.

Surfing is an ever-evolving, subjective sport and we welcome a robust debate around the progression of our sport and the criteria used to judge our competitions. However, it is unacceptable for any athlete to question the integrity of our judges who, like our surfers, are elite professionals.

No one person or group of people are above the integrity of the sport.

Sincerely,

Erik Logan

WSL Chief Executive Office”

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As expected, ELO, proper and scintillating with righteousness. A few things I took note of:

• Medina and Filipe were the two notables who put up posts on Social Media. Italo also had a post but it was not directed as sharply at the Woz.
• This ‘small number of athletes’ account for the last 4 World Titles. I wonder if their voices are louder than their counterparts. Like how Slater was selected as a wildcard due to his ‘contributions to surfing’. 
• I thought Ewing received, and posted his death threat stuff before Medina made his statement? I could be wrong. Thought it was interesting that ELO said it was a “direct result of those statements”. 
• “Breach of league policy” had to turn some heads. Can we expect some fines? Would a suspension be out of question? One wonders..
• “Unacceptable” to voice your opinions on your own Social Media platform is actually a little crazy.

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Things are heating up in the Professional Surfing sphere. I wonder if there were any conversations between ELO and the surfers at all? What do you think? The comments from fans have been lively, to say the least. Definitely worth a scroll through the WSL’s IG posts. I would also like to take this chance to say that I hope the entire hvoide community stands with me in rejecting all forms of harassment and intimidation like what we have witnessed recently on posts of Ethan Ewing and Griffin Colapinto. Thank you.

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Cheers,

hwilsin