What is the Matosinhos Surf School Cup, Portugal?

It's the AESP new competition format for surf schools

Last year, the Portuguese Surf School Association (AESP) finally had the opportunity to concretize a long-time project: the creation of a new competition format for surf schools. “Matosinhos Surf School Cup 2021” was the name of the first edition, that took place in Matosinhos (Porto), north Portugal.  Afonso Teixeira, AESP Executive Director, sat down with us and told us a little more about this sporting event.

[AESP is a non-profit association founded and managed by surf school owners in Portugal, created to respond to the current national context of rapid growth of waveriding activities. AESP is also an ASI partner in Portugal, giving support mainly to students that complete the “Treinadores de Surfing Grau I” course with ASI]

ASI: What was the “Matosinhos Surf School Cup”? For who did the association created it?
Afonso: The Matosinhos Surf School Cup was a competition which happened in the council of Matosinhos, between the local Surf Schools. This had a different approach than your traditional surfing competitions, since it was a team event to crown the Champion Surf School, instead of the Champion individual Surfer. The event was created for the Surf Schools, to give their customers a different experience and to promote a social moment between the schools. We had created the concept for this event some time ago and it had been “in the drawer” waiting for a moment for us to implement it. We proposed the event to the Municipality of Matosinhos, as a tool to promote the territory and the different surfing spots in the council – making a different stage of the tour in a different beach.

ASI: Why did the association created this event?
Afonso: The main goal of this event for the Association is to promote social moments of leisure between the Surf Schools, and to give the opportunity for those attending the surf schools to be involved in a surfing competition. The primary goal is not the competition itself, which is why we implemented a different concept, in which the competition is between teams, in a tag-team format, instead of the traditional individual competition. Also, for the event promoter – the Municipality of Matosinhos – this is an event aiming to promote its territory and the local surfing spots.

ASI: How was organized the event? How long did the cup last?
Afonso: The cup was awarded to the highest ranked School after a total of 5 events. We did each stage in a different beach of Matosinhos, all of them between the local surf schools and in a tag-team format. Each team is composed of 4 students and 1 coach of the Surf School, in which all compete in 1hour heats. The first event happened in October 2021, and the 5th and final event took place in April 2022.

ASI: Did you find support for organizing the competition amongst the local community?
Afonso: Absolutely, we worked closely together with the Surf Schools and with the Municipality. We also had the determinant support from the event’s sponsors, local and national companies, Deeply, Sociedade Comercial C. Santos, Matosinhos Sport, and APDL. Each stage was an event for the community, with parallel activities promoted by our partners and sponsors, such as beach cleanings, Soft Top fun contests, activities for people with disabilities, amongst others. The athletes had the support of friends and family, who had an extremely important role in energizing each of these moments. 

ASI: What is the outcome that you can took from this first edition? Would you like it to use this model of competition for other locations?
Afonso: Well, we consider the event was a success, with great feedback from everyone involved. We proved that the concept works and that it adds value to the local surfing scene. We are planning to take this type of events to other locations and to spread the spirit of community between the Surf Schools of the whole country. 

 

ASI: When and where do you think the next edition will take place? Any plans for the future?
Afonso: We are working together with the Municipality for the second edition of the Matosinhos Surf School Cup, we need to make it a regular event so it can have the desired effects throughout the future. As stated in the last answer, we also want to hopefully take it to other locations and be able to give Every surf school the opportunity to be a part of this.

 

 

 

Associação de Escolas de Surf de Portugal
Website: www.associacaoescolasdesurf.pt
Email: info@associacaoescolasdesurf.pt
Phone Nr.: +351 912 312 119

 

 

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