She’s small in stature, but can shred bigger waves than the tallest “bruddah.” And so it’s no surprise that Rochelle Ballard, the fourth best surfer on the pro tour, could be heard among the sixty young women surfers at Hanalei’s
She’s small in stature, but can shred bigger waves than the tallest “bruddah.”
And so it’s no surprise that Rochelle Ballard, the fourth best surfer on the pro tour, could be heard among the sixty young women surfers at Hanalei’s Pavilion on Sunday.
The Kapa’a-raised surfer hosted the second annual Rochelle Ballard Surf Camp this past weekend at various locations around Hanalei Bay.
The camp, presented by O’Neill, Reef and Imagine Entertainment, was established by Ballard to provide a development platform for young women surfers in Hawaii, encouraging the growth of athletic talent and promoting the sport of surfing for women.
“It’s not just to teach the girls how to surf – many of them already have incredible talent,” said Ballard. “It’s about helping build camaraderie and keeping a positive attitude.”
Talent shows, yoga, teamwork: These things may not seem like tools to refine surfing skills, but it’s a method that works at Ballard’s camp.
“We want the girls to bond, to teach each other, to support each other. This is a major part of their development as surfers.”
In a tag-team exercise Sunday morning, the method proved rather effective. Six teams of 10 girls competed in a time challenge that required teamwork and support among the young surfers. Three surfers were required to catch three waves and return to the beach to tag the next surfer. Naturally, the team which completed the exercise in the least amount of time won.
The contest taught time-management and endurance, but it also promoted teamwork in what many consider to be an individual sport.
“Everything went smooth. There was no bickering and everyone got along, it was awesome,” said 20-year-old Maui resident and Camp Leader Theresa McGregor, a friend of Ballard’s. “Even when there was down-pour on Saturday, the girls didn’t get down. They just played a game of freeze-tag.”
“When I was younger I didn’t have something like this to help me along in my surfing career,” said Ballard, not forgetting to note some of the people who supported her along the way in Kaua’i. “I want to change that. I want to give back what I learned through the years to the young surfers of today. There wasn’t much support for women surfers when I was growing up.”
Based on the weekend’s success and her mission to help develop young surfers, Ballard said she will continue to hold camps in Hawaii and abroad.
