“Little People Can Do Big Things”: 15-Year-Old Sensation Is All Set to Change the Face of Surfing

While there still exists a lot of disparity across multiple fronts for women’s sports when compared to that of men’s, they have certainly come a long way from their early days. Surfing in particular started in the 17th century for women. Maui princess Keleanohoana’api’api, also known as Kalea is often considered the trailblazer in the sport. However, it didn’t fully gather momentum until the last 50 years, when the California Golden girls put women’s surfing on the map. Now, carrying this legacy forward is a 15-year-old Canadian prodigy, born in Texas, whose sole aim is to lift women’s surfing to an unparalleled height.

The surfing world has found its next superstar, and her name is Erin Brooks. The teenager is already high with her success at the Padang Padang Cup in Bali has already made her one of Canada’s top-earning athletes. However, Brooks’s aim is of a much higher and nobler purpose.

Erin Brooks is deadset on taking women’s surfing to great heights

“I just want to push women’s surfing. That’s all I wanna do”, says the young teenager to The Globe and Mail, a Canadian newspaper. She continued, “Just try to be the best surfer that I can be. And show everyone that girls can do it better than guys”. Brooks did not develop this strong and competitive attitude overnight. As per her father, she has been like that since her childhood.

She continued, “Every time I go out there I just want to show everyone that I can do it even though I’m small. My Dad always says that little people can do big things”. In the 2022 Padang Padang Cup in Bali, she became the first female athlete to compete in the men’s finals. This broke barriers and set new precedents for younger women who would follow in her footsteps. Her dad, proud as he is, isn’t surprised at Brooks’ strong ambitions.

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He says, “From the moment she first learned to surf, all Erin has ever wanted to do was ‘surf like a guy.'” Jeff Brooks further explains how his daughter was different from the rest even as a kid. “She didn’t do tea parties and doll houses. She wanted to smash things and jump off things”, he said.

Many attest to the belief that Erin Brooks as a surfing prodigy

Shane Dorian, the big-wave legend from Hawaii, also sees great potential in her. Although there has only been a handful of surfers like Eeili Temperi, who successfully challenged and beat Olympic-level surfers, Brooks is still an anomaly due to her sheer go-getter mentality. Even as a kid, if she ever saw a boy successfully accomplish something, Brooks took it upon herself to achieve the same.

Erin Brooks is all set to mark her debut at the Olympics next year in Paris in 2024. The surfing competitions will be held from 27th to 30th July in Teahupo’o Beach, Tahiti, French Polynesia. And Quebec-based Brooks will be there competing for her native country, Canada.

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