Part-time senior Haley Bosley-Smith is a competitive athlete in a sport that isn’t often seen around this area due to the lack of ocean yet it is one of the oldest sports in the world according to surfholidays.com, surfing.
The first major surfing contest was held in California back in 1928, also according to surfholidays.com. Bosley-Smith has been surfing for 7 years and loves it because, “the people that I get to meet out in the water, the friends that have become family and the experiences that wouldn’t have been possible without surfing.” She continues, “the moments I’m in the water where I feel truly happy, the looks on peoples faces when they stand up for the first time on the surfboard” and her list goes on.”
The senior states she started surfing because, “When my family bought a beach house in Bethany Beach, Delaware my dad bought us our first surfboard. At first, I watched my dad learn to surf but eventually after watching him and others in the water I wanted to give it a try too.”
She still remembers the feelings of her first ride, “Whenever I got on my surfboard, I couldn’t keep the smile off my face the entire session in the water. I realized that I had found something special that wasn’t worth giving up on.”
She did not do competitions as a kid but over time she worked up the confidence. She states “after attending many competitions to watch my friends compete it is now my goal to compete in at least one surfing competition before I go off to college.” She adds that knowing that she has “friends around [her] to cheer [her] on out in the water has made me realize that I should at least give it a try.”
There are many different types of surfboards out there, much like snowboards. Haley has 12 surfboards consisting of, “different CJ Nelson Boards, a Stewart Hydro Glide Board, a Congo Board, and different boards that my dad and I made.”
“She explains that the length of the board has a major impact on how the board feels. “The smallest surfboard we have is a 7’1” surfboard that we made- it’s a Hybrid (Fun) Surfboard which is generally used for small to medium waves. And the largest surfboard we have is a 10’0” CJ Nelson board- it’s a Long Board which is generally easier to paddle and catch waves on.”
In Bosely-Smith’s eyes, she believes that a career in this sport for her is not in her plans because “I do not want to be a professional surfer for a career. I love surfing but I’m afraid that if I become serious about it the pressure that professional surfers face will make me hate the sport.” The surfers plans for the future include “attending medical school to become a physician. I love helping others and this job would allow me to help people in the water that get hurt surfing.”
The young athlete has recognized recent equality in terms of pay deficit for this sport with gender, “in the past I know that men and women surfers did not receive the same pay until September 2019 when the World Surf League (WSL) decided that men and women competitors would be paid equally in all WSL events.”
