Jamie Neill of Ballito writes: I am writing to express my concern regarding the lack of female recognition in the Ballito Pro magazine.
The publication was professionally put together and I thoroughly enjoyed reading the two page spread on the male competitors and their nationalities.
However, I was completely bewildered not to find the same for the females.
I am curious to understand what the justification is for not including such information considering these female competitors form a large portion of the programme for the event.
So why shouldn’t they get the recognition they deserve?
I am not oblivious to the fact that there is significantly more money in male surfing; be it in the sponsorships, media and controversially, the prize money.
If anything, that should constitute even more of a reason to uplift the pool of talent in female sport.
These women have worked just as hard, travelled just as far and are just as passionate as the men, yet they have not been granted the privilege of being seen in the competition magazine.
These women deserve the pride of seeing their face in there, just like the men.
Not only that, but the public happen to take interest in who is competing, is that not something that crossed your mind? We are living in South Africa, in 2018, a place where equality is a number one priority.
So how is something as straight forward as this managed to be disregarded?
Ballito Pro magazine editor Bruce Stephenson replies:
Publishing is the art of the possible.
This year the client called for emphasis on the 50th anniversary of the competition coinciding with a centenary since the birth of Nelson Mandela, plus Shaun Tomson’s Positive Waves Tour.
As the size of the magazine was pre-determined, there had to be priorities, leading to more emphasis on legacy and less on surfing. Apart from the fact that the women’s field was a third of the size of the men’s, which influenced space allocation, entries for women closed after the print deadline.
We chose to run with the top seeds we knew were confirmed.
The women’s event was re-introduced in 2015 at the insistence of the client, something they’re chuffed about, as well as the fact that most of the event and magazine teams are female. So, no prejudice there.
However, your point is well noted and as with the women’s prize money, there needs to be some discussion going forward
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