The first stage of this year's edition will be at Cabo do Mundo Beach, reuniting surf schools from Matosinhos.
The 3rd edition of the Matosinhos Surf School Cup kicks off next Sunday at Praia do Cabo do Mundo, with surf schools competing for the trophy in a unique competition in Portugal.
The competition format is a tag-team, inspired by the one used in the International Surfing Association's (ISA) traditional Aloha Cup, encouraging team spirit and socialising among the participating surf schools. Each school will be represented by a team of five: a coach and four students.
The event will take place in four stages on different beaches in the municipality, with the aim of raising the profile of the waves and beaches and boosting local tourism. The competition is promoted by the Municipality of Matosinhos and organised by the Associação de Escolas de Surf de Portugal.
The press conference for the presentation of the competition, which took place at the Piscina das Marés this Wednesday, was attended by Marta Pontes, Councillor for Economic Activities, Tourism and Internationalisation of Matosinhos City Council, Afonso Teixeira from the Portuguese Surf Schools Association, Professor Henrique Calisto, Executive Director of Matosinhos Sport, Marta Sá Lemos from APDL (Administração dos Portos do Douro, Leixões e Viana do Castelo, S.A.) and Pedro Mota from Cerveja Nortada.
‘The Matosinhos Surf School Cup positions Matosinhos as a privileged destination for surfers, bringing together young people from the various Surf Schools and challenging them to demonstrate their skills, competing in a healthy and learning environment, promoting fundamental values such as discipline, respect for the sea and team spirit, which are pillars of surf culture. The impact of this event goes far beyond the competition, acting as a lever for economic and social development and a powerful tool for promoting tourism, reiterating the quality of our coastline for surfing and strengthening the role of Matosinhos as one of the epicentres of surfing and a tourist destination of choice,’ said Marta Pontes.
‘This is a unique event in the whole country and one that we are very pleased to organise. It meets all the Association's values of promoting unity and sharing between surf schools, while at the same time involving, in a much less serious competitive aspect than the traditional one, an audience that represents the vast majority of surf school students, at an intermediate level and without any contact with formal competition,’ said Afonso Teixeira.
In addition to the competition, there will be various actions promoted by the event's partners at each stage: Beach Clean-Up by Buondi, an action to raise environmental awareness about the importance of protecting beaches and oceans; Xpression Session by Xtreme Surf Design, allowing each school to choose an advanced surfer to take part in a board manoeuvring competition; Nortada Sunset Party, an event that will be accompanied by music and drinks after the awards ceremony at each stage.
The next stages will be held on 23 June, 22 September and 20 October, and the dates and location may be changed depending on the weather conditions.