This year marks an exciting time for the sport of professional surfing, the Association of Surfing Professionals has been relaunched and rebranded as the World Surf League.
The professional surfing Tour was founded in 1976 as the International Professional Surfers (IPS), in 1983 it transformed into the ASP and 2015 sees the ASP officially become the World Surf League (WSL).
The WSL organizes the annual tour of professional surf competitions and broadcasts each event live at WorldSurfLeague.com where you can experience the athleticism, drama and adventure of competitive surfing — anywhere and anytime it’s on.
The WSL sanctions and operates the Junior Tour, Longboard Tour, the Qualifying Series (QS), the Big Wave Tour and the crown jewel of the sport, the WSL Championship Tour (CT) which determines the sport’s undisputed world champions.
The organization is headquartered in Santa Monica, California with Commercial Offices in New York. The offices are supported by regional centers in Africa, Asia, Australasia, Europe, Hawaii, North America and South America.
Paul Speaker, WSL CEO gives some insight into changes as the Australasia region prepares to kick off the 2015 season.
‘The ASP is now the World Surf League – the idea behind the transition is to provide easier access to the world’s best surfing for our fans, both new and old, as well as to further enhance the singular platform through which we can enjoy this wonderful sport’, said Speaker.
‘The goal of the ASP was to place the world’s best surfers in the world’s best waves. This same goal will be championed by the WSL moving forward
‘I’d like to extend another heartfelt thank you to our global distribution and sponsor partners as well as to all our staff around the globe who dedicate their time, energy and efforts to the sport of kings. We share the passion of our fans and look forward to bringing you the unparalleled athleticism, adventure and competitive drama of professional surfing once again in 2015.’
Full 2015 World Surf League Calendar available here – www.worldsurfleague.com/events
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