Day two of the Super Girl Pro in Jacksonville Beach saw a great turn out of locals coming out to see the female pro surfers at the Jacksonville Beach Pier. The waves were expected to be small but cooperated by providing chest to head high sets with an offshore wind, giving surfers favorable conditions to compete.
The Super Girl Pro is the second major professional surfing event held here in two weeks. Last weekend the Red Bull Nightriders saw its 3rd appearance at Jacksonville Beach, being won for the 4th time by local surfer Cody Thompson. Cody was on the beach today showing his support for the girls. “This is cool, it’s the biggest event we’ve ever had here.The surfing is so good and the crowds showed up to support. I’m super stoked to see Jax Beach being recognized as a great surfing location,” Cody told First Coast Life.
Don Nicol, owner of Taco Lu is a major supporter of surfing on the First Coast. Don was found watching the surfing and sizing up the contest. He said, “The organizers contacted Taco Lu about three weeks ago asking if we could feed the staff and competitors on one of the days, so I agreed to get involved. Surfing is so big here, and I can’t surf so I show my support by doing whatever I can when events like this ask me to get involved.”
The Super Girl Pro is a three day event that features a festival setting with, in addition to the surfing, exhibitions of beach volleyball, soccer, skateboarding, music and more. Its a great event for families to come out and see how a professional surf contest is conducted. Jason Motes, coach of the ESA (Easten Surfing Association) All Stars team and father figure to Motes Militia pointed out, “The waves have been incredible and the girls are just absolutely ripping. The kids are enjoying it, the parents are enjoying it, everyone is having fun on the beach and there’s lots of other things happening as well.”
A couple of blocks up the beach at the Seawalk Pavilion there is a major music festival going on as well as skateboarding competitions and much more. George Evans, owner of the Instaramp was watching the practice sessions on the ramp as they got ready to begin the competition. He said, “Super Girl Pro contacted me about bringing the ramp out and holding a skateboard competition and here we are!” Evans, who is all about supporting skateboarding both locally and abroad even painted the ramp pink to reflect the women’s ideology. He added, “We have an international pro skateboarding event this weekend downtown and we have a great crowd here at the beach and it shows what a great skateboarding community Jacksonville has to add to the surfing.”
Musically, the Super Girl Pro brings a two day lineup of bands that feature some of our local acts as well as regional and national bands. Kicking off today’s show was local band Hello Celia and will end with headliner The Expendables who take the stage at 8:30pm. Sunday will be similar with music beginning at noon and closing out with Hoobastank playing from 5:20 to 6:30 and the Plain White T’s from 6:45 until 8:00pm.
If you still haven’t made it out you have tonight and Sunday to get out to the beach and check it out. Surfing continues Sunday morning at the pier with semi finals beginning at 11:00am and an awards ceremony at 1:20 pm, It’s a great family oriented activity so pack up the kiddos and come on out!
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Mike is a native First Coaster and was a leading figure in surfing and skateboarding for most of his life. After promoting music for many years on the local music scene, Mike now brings a unique perspective to FirstCoast.Life as a contributing writer.
