Back in 2018, Surfing became the first US league to require equal pay and equal prize money for its athletes, no matter what their gender is. Starting in 2019, all surfing competitions awarded the same prizes to all the winning athletes. It became possible with the creation of the Committee for Equity in Women’s Surfing in 2016 by a group of women who fought for years. But their fight isn’t over yet.
Surf is one of the most dangerous sports in the world, so Bianca Valenti fought so that the risks women took were as recognized as the men’s. Photo : Bianca Valenti’s Facebook
The World Surf League was created in 1976. Equal pay was introduced in 2018. It took 42 years for women to be paid as much as their male colleagues. It also took the creation of the Committee for Equity in Women’s Surfing.
“[My friends and I] created the CEWS, said professional surfer, Bianca Valenti. We then showed rule makers and gatekeepers in California how their outdated policies were supporting gender-based discrimination. Once we had the state backing us, the WSL made the smart and ethical decision to start paying women equal prize money.”
A wave of change
Currently, the WSL is still the only US sport league to offer equal prize money. But the road that led to this wasn’t paved with concrete. The fight was and still is rough.
“When times get tough, […] I think of all the athletes I’m helping by taking a stance for equity. All the kids who will have it better than we do. That keeps me inspired and hopeful when times get tough”, expressed the athlete.
And it already started. In the 2019’s World Surf League’s Championship Tour, 17 years-old surfer Caroline Marks became the first woman to win the same $100,000 prize as her male counterparts.
The next step
The equity fight is far from over. The advertising of women in surf by the sponsors and the discrimination against LGBTQ+ surfers also need to be fixed. And in general, athletes are working so that all sports leagues will make equal pay their priority : “We want to create a coalition and unite with all the female athletes from other sports. And streamline all of our efforts, announced Bianca Valenti. I think the growth opportunity in women’s sports is greater than ever. And the time is now!”
Emma Fourreau