JACKSONVILLE BEACH, Fla. — Jacksonville's first professional women’s surfing competition kicks off this weekend, with some of the biggest names in women’s surfing expected to compete.
But it's not just about the competition, event organizers say Super Girl Surf Pro is a celebration of female strength and empowerment.
The event kicks-off on Friday with a mentorship program hosted by Olympic Gold Medalist and fivetime World Champion Carissa Moore. Back in July, Moore defeated South Africa's Bianca Buitendag to take home the first women's Olympic surfing title in history.
It's these kinds of headlines that help push women's surfing into the spotlight.
Professional women's surfing has been around for a while, however, when it comes to publicity and marketing dollars, the women are often overshadowed by their male counterparts
The Super Girl Surf Pro is hoping to change that by providing role models that young girls can look up to in order to help inspire the next generation of wave riders.
Each Super Girl event is centered around providing social, athletic, cultural, educational, business and entertainment opportunities for young women in areas where they are traditionally underrepresented. Since 2007, the popular surfing competition and festival has been held annually in San Diego at Oceanside Pier.
“When Super Girl was ready to grow and add an east coast event, we couldn’t think of a better location for incredible surfing and a cool, welcoming vibe than Jacksonville Beach,” said Rick Bratman, CEO of ASA Entertainment, the event’s producer. “The Super Girl Surf Pro has made a long-term commitment to hosting an inspirational event that will empower young women, as well as showcase successful women in professional surfing and from many other walks of life."
The competition component of the event takes place at the Jacksonville Beach Pier and will feature USA Olympic teammember and Florida native, Caroline Marks, along with former Super Girl champions Lakey Peterson, Samantha Sibley and Sage Erickson, 2021 US Open Champion Caity Simmers, and The Ultimate Surfer winner Tia Blanco.
The event also features a Festival Village at the Sea Walk Pavilion. There, over 12 free concerts will take place over two days inducing headliners The Expendables, The Plain White T's and Hobastank. **The full concert lineup and set times can be found below.
In addition to great music, the Festival Village will also have family-friendly activities, esports video game competitions, an all-female DJ competition, women’s beach soccer and free fitness classes such as yoga, Zumba, and pilates. Plus plenty of food trucks and a beer/wine garden!
The surf portion of the event will run daily at the Jacksonville Beach Pier from Friday, Nov. 12 through Sunday, Nov. 14 from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The Festival Village at Sea Walk Pavilion will run on Saturday, Nov. 13 from 12 p.m. to 10 p.m. and on Sunday Nov. 14, from 12 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Access to the surfing,concerts, esports, panels, classes, beach volleyball, beach soccer and all elements are free to attend.
There will also be a two-day live webcast with 16 hours of coverage on several sites, including Twitch, YouTube, World Surf League, Surfline, The Inertia and Facebook
Concert Lineup:
Saturday
- 12:00p – 12:45p - HelloCelia in Concert
- 1:15p – 2:00p - Madison Grace in Concert
- 2:30p – 3:30p - Split Tone in Concert
- 4:00p – 5:45p - Super Girl Sound Session Female DJ Competition
- 6:15p – 6:45p - Kira Kosarin in Concert
- 7:15p – 8:00p - John K in Concert
- 8:30p – 9:50p - THE EXPENDABLES in Concert
Sunday
- 12:00p – 12:45p - Hello Sister in Concert
- 1:10p – 1:45p - Annie Dukes in Concert
- 2:00p – 2:45p - Female Leadership Panel Discussion
- 3:00p – 3:40p - Stephanie Perez in Concert
- 4:00p – 5:00p - The Band Be Easy in Concert
- 5:20p – 6:20p - Hoobastank in Concert
- 6:45p – 8:00p - Plain White T’s in Concert