To know where we are going, we must first know where we’ve been
Surfing, as we know it, is broken. Yes, you as an individual may have an amazing time, or even with a few of your friends. But systemically, access to and progression in surfing is broken. Underrepresented children and adults barely know basic water safety, and few live within a few miles of the beach - where most surfers live.
Even if they try surfing, most don’t come back. In a USA Surfing study, AA surfers rose from 8.7% to 11% from 2022 to 2024, but that includes casual surfers (someone who surfed once). Due to lack of proximity, equipment resources, instruction resources, and connections, Black surfers are stuck at the “top of the funnel” - they get exposed then don’t continue with surfing.
Even if they try to stick with it, the culture of surfing can be quite discouraging and exclusive, making it harder to consistently surf and progress.
Our vision for California in 2040
As you all know, Black.Surfers mission is to attain equitable access to surfing for Black people through policy and community.
We strongly believe that, by centering the Black womxn and focusing on how to radically improve her experience with surfing, we can affect change for many underrepresented groups.
We see a California where:
Black girls and women are at parity with White children in their respective regions for knowing basic water safety and how to swim
Black women are regularly making it into the QS and the CT - and staying there
Black girls are encouraged and supported to join and maintain membership in junior lifeguards and surf teams
Black girls and women are living and going to coastlines in proportions reflective of the overall population, even with climate-driven coastal changes
Black girls and women are supported in getting subsidized equipment access, either rentals or purchasing, and storage
Black girls and women are regularly seen in the surf lineups across the state, in proportions reflective of the overall population
California surf culture is truly welcoming and inclusive, by being both respectful and uplifting
Interested in helping move our vision forward? Join us
