A Year Without the WSL

It’s been eight months since COVID precautions started ramping up. Eight months of masks, self isolation, small groups. Eight months of media, both in sports and in Hollywood, scrambling to produce content and scrape out fractions of profit in this new world. While there have been some success (ie. the NBA Bubble) and some failures *cough cough Mulan cough*, the entertainment industry has done their very best with the resources available to them. But the Championship Tour of the WSL, unlike so many others, cut their losses early and bunkered down for a year of hibernation with no attempt at all at some makeshift season.

As much as it pains me to admit, I have to agree with the WSL on this one. There is absolutely no reality that exists where the 2020 Championship Tour could be started (let alone completed) in a way that could ensure the safety of competitors, staff, and local communities in which the competitions take place. The global tour shattered any ideas of a bubble while border restrictions made international travel a logistical nightmare at best. The new year started with the WSL postponing the season, month after month after month. It soon became obvious that there was no immediate solution in sight, and any hopes of a Frankenstein season drifted back out to sea in the night. 

From the start, I was curious as to what would fill that vacuum of televised surfing. As much as I have qualms with the concept of judging surfing and monetizing such a beautiful art, I can’t deny the pull I have towards the computer screen when John John lines up in a heat against Medina. What was I going to do with my second work monitor without these heavy-weight bouts? Where would I get the latest scoop on the world of surfing without the lingo-laden commentary of Strider Wasilewski? 2020 was truly a year of unknowns, and for surfing, it was no different. 

Like most things in this pandemic, the new normal is abnormal until it isn’t. With each passing month I thought less and less of rankings, less and less of head-high trestles, less and less of eight backhand snaps to the beach. The world without competitive surfing kind of felt like the world with competitive surfing, just without it. Does that make sense? Surfers still surfed. Vloggers still vlogged. And Kelly Slater, like the surfing ghost of Christmas past, still showed up at all the best swells across the globe as they peaked. Instagram and YouTube proved more than capable to hoist surfing media on its shoulders while competitions dissolved into the pot-filled void of surfer’s memories. 

From what I can tell, competitive surfing’s hiatus was accepted if not welcomed by surfers and viewers alike. It’s equally entertaining to see Medina without a jersey on. It’s fun watching John John sail across the globe and start some exploration lifestyle brand. It reminds me a bit of those “Nature is Healing” memes that we see all over the place. Maybe surfing is healing. Maybe this is the sabbatical that pro surfers needed, but could never imagine asking for (unless they win the World Title of course). 

As we look forward, the downstream effects of the cancelation of the 2020 World Tour are predictable but nonetheless unknown. If the loss of Surfer Magazine is any indication, the surfing industry as a whole may be in for a shakeup in 2021. Sponsors and big-backing industries of the surfing world are surly floating on a limited supply of cash. Similar to the case of our Nation, if the rebound is not as drastic as people hope, I have no doubt that even more money will dissolve from the sport, leaving many of our favorite surfers with uncertain futures. 

At the moment, I’m just going to take each wave as it comes. One-minute instagram clips and Zeke Lau’s new vlog are more than enough for now. But the end of all this, if not in sight, has to be somewhat close, right?