What: The Ballito Women’s Pro presented by Billabong and the Ballito Pro Trials presented by Billabong
When: Both events will be run on Sunday 28 June 2015
Where: Both events take place at Surfer’s Beach, Ballito, in the KwaDukuza region of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
Status: The Ballito Women’s Pro is a QS1 000 rated event on the World Surf League (WSL) Qualifying Series (QS)
The Ballito Pro Trials determines the two trialists who gain entry to the R3 million Ballito Pro presented by Billabong, a R3 million QS 10 000 rated event
Both events form part of the Ballito Pro Festival, a multi-sports and cultural festival that runs from June 28 to July 5 at Willard Beach and surrounds in Ballito.
Who: The Ballito Women’s Pro features an 18 person field of South Africa’s best established and emerging female surf stars. Tanika Hoffman (Hout Bay) is the top seed, followed by Emma Smith(Jeffreys Bay), Teal Hogg (Umhlanga) and Heather Clark (Port Shepstone). Samkelisiwe Cele (Durban) will become the first Zulu girl to compete in a WSL event
The Ballito Pro Trials features a 32-man field of highly ranked international and South African competitors including Tiago Pires (POR), Connor Coffin (USA), Pedro Henrique (BRA) and SA’s David van Zyl (Glenashley), Dylan Lightfoot (Jeffreys Bay) and Slade Prestwich (Scottburgh)
Format: Both events use four person heats with the top two in each heat advancing to the next round until the last four in the event contest the Final
Prize-Purse: The Ballito Women’s Pro offers total prize-money of the R30 000 with R10 000 and 1 000 QS rankings going to the winner
The top two finishers in the Final of the Ballito Pro Trials qualify for the Ballito Pro where they are guaranteed a minimum of R9 000 in prize-money and 550 QS rankings points
Event Management: The Contest Director for both events is Colin Fitch, the Operations Manager for the WSL Africa regional office – 082 699 4493 / cfitch@worldsurfleague.com
The Media Director for both events is Paul Botha of Life’s a Beach Communications – 082 423 1964 / lifesabeach@mweb.co.za
Facebook: www.facebook.com/theballitopro
Instagram: @theballitopro
Twitter: @TheBallitoPro
Hashtags: #EvolutionOfEpic and #TheBallitoPro