FORD SUPERGIRL PRO HEADS TO OCEANSIDE, CALIF. AUG. 2 – 4 FOR ONLY ASP 6-STAR FEMALE EVENT IN NORTH AMERICA
Bethany Hamilton, Carissa Moore, Lakey Peterson and Alana Blanchard Among 100+ Pros Competing in World’s Largest Female Surf Event
Los Angeles, Calif. (July 10, 2013) – ASA Entertainment announced today that the Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) 6-Star Ford Supergirl Pro presented by Paul Mitchell will take place for the second consecutive year at the Oceanside Pier in Oceanside, Calif. from August 2-4, 2013. Admission to the event is free.
The Ford Supergirl Pro will serve as the lone women’s ASP qualifying event scheduled in North America for the 2013 season and plays a critical role for surfers looking to solidify their position on the 2014 ASP Women’s World Championship Tour (WCT).
“With the Ford Supergirl Pro currently representing the only women’s qualifying event in America, this contest is extremely important in the girls’ qualification process for next year’s WCT,” Jessi Miley-Dyer, ASP Women’s Tour Manager said. “Since this event falls towards the end of the women’s qualifying season, results at the Ford Supergirl Pro could be make-or-break for girls on the qualifying bubble.”
In addition to being the only Women’s Star event in North America, the Ford Supergirl Pro will also be the largest female contest in the world with 100 of the world’s top female pros committed to compete. Some of the world-class surfers participating in the 2013 event include Bethany Hamilton (Lihue, HI), Carissa Moore (Honolulu, HI), Lakey Peterson (Santa Barbara, CA), Coco Ho (Oahu, HI), Laura Enever (Sydney, Australia), Malia Manuel (Kauai, HI), Paige Hareb (New Plymouth, NZ), Sofia Mulanovich (Lima, Peru), Sage Erickson (Malibu, CA) and Alana Blanchard (Kauai, HI).
“I am so thrilled about competing in the Ford Supergirl Pro,” said Pro Surfer Bethany Hamilton, the subject of the hit movie,Soul Surfer. “Women’s surfing is really exciting at the moment, and to be part of such an important event in the US for women’s surfing is awesome!”
Ford’s Fiesta has signed on as the title sponsor for the 2013 contest, as part of the “Fiesta Movement” – an innovative campaign that puts 100 social influencers in new 2014 Fiestas to help showcase the car’s unique personality and attributes.
“We’re very excited about the Ford Supergirl Pro competition,” said Keith Koeppen, Ford advertising and media manager. “To us, this is more than just a sponsorship; it’s a way for us to work together to support the sport.”
The event marks the sixth year of Supergirl’s support of women’s surfing. Prior to becoming a 6-Star event in 2012, the Supergirl Pro Junior was one of the world’s largest Pro Junior competitions. Several of today’s top WCT pros are former Supergirl Pro Junior finalists, including Courtney Conlogue, Coco Ho, Carissa Moore, Malia Manuel, Lakey Peterson and Sage Erickson.
“We are really pleased about the expansion of the Ford Supergirl Pro in 2013 and the record-breaking field of women participating,” said Rick Bratman, CEO of ASA Entertainment, the event’s management company and one of the leading producers of action sports event and television programming in the US. “We have been supporting women’s surfing for many years, and with tremendous partners like Ford, Paul Mitchell, GoBank and Warner Bros. Consumer Products, we are expecting 2013 to be the best Supergirl event ever as well as a building block for future women’s contests in the US.”
The Ford Supergirl Pro will be broadcast nationally on Fox Sports Net (FSN) Friday, October 18 at 5 p.m. and 11 p.m. There will be a live webcast from the event on Sunday, August 4, that will be shown on several surf industry web sites.
“The Supergirl Jam series is the living embodiment of female empowerment, bringing together an amazing group of female athletes across multiple sports,” said Karen McTier, executive vice president, Domestic Licensing and Worldwide Marketing, Warner Bros. Consumer Products. “The strength, style, and skill these athletes bring to the event is such an inspiration to young women everywhere and we’re thrilled to have the Supergirl S-Shield at the forefront once again.”
In addition to presenting the best female surfing on the planet, the event supports an eco-awareness platform that will feature more than 10 sustainability organizations as well as a surf industry village, live music, seminars, yoga, fashion, autographs from the pros, free hair styling by Paul Mitchell and other female-oriented activities.
The event will run on Friday, August 2 and Saturday, August 3, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and on Sunday, August 4, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The Ford Supergirl Pro presented by Paul Mitchell is the second event of the 2013 Supergirl Jam Series, the action sports industry’s largest all-female competition and lifestyle series, featuring more than 150 female pros in surfing, skateboarding and snowboarding. For more detailed information on the Ford Supergirl Pro, please visit www.SupergirlJam.com orwww.asaentertainment.com.
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About ASA Entertainment:
Founded in 1994, ASA Entertainment Group, LLC is an action sports event, television and content production agency focused on creating and executing customized, turn-key marketing programs that range in scale from grassroots to global. ASA’s events, featuring skateboarding, freestyle BMX, inline skating, freestyle motocross, snowboarding, surfing and music, are broadcast domestically on eight networks (including CBS and Fox Sports Net), and distributed to more than 700 million HH globally via 30 international broadcast partners. ASA’s productions span the spectrum from large, international competitions such as the ASA Action Sports World Tour, the World Championships of Freestyle Motocross, The Supergirl Jam Series and the ASA Big-Air Triples to amateur contests, lifestyle and branded entertainment events, demonstrations, exhibitions, school programs and mobile tours. After 17 years as a leader in action sports, ASA Entertainment regularly connects brands to consumers through its platform of premium action sports and lifestyle content. For more information, visitASAentertainment.com or ActionSportsTour.com.
About ASP:
The Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) is the governing body of professional surfing. Crowning surfing’s undisputed world champions since 1976, the ASP sanctions the following tours: the ASP World Tour, the ASP Women’s World Tour, the World Qualifying Series (WQS) and the World Longboarding, Junior and Masters Championships. The ASP is dedicated to showcasing the world’s best surfing talent in a variety of progressive formats and has revolutionized the way the world watches surfing via their webcasts. The organization is divided into seven different regions: Africa, Asia, Australasia, Europe, Hawaii, North America, and South America.
About Ford Motor Company:
Ford Motor Company, a global automotive industry leader based in Dearborn, Mich., manufactures or distributes automobiles across six continents. With about 175,000 employee and 65 plants worldwide, the company’s automotive brands include Ford and Lincoln. For more information regarding Ford and its products worldwide, please visit http://corporate.ford.com.
About Warner Bros. Consumer Products:
Warner Bros. Consumer Products, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company, is one of the leading licensing and retail merchandising organizations in the world.
About DC Comics:
DC Entertainment, home to iconic brands DC Comics (Superman, Batman, Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, The Flash), Vertigo (Sandman, Fables) and MAD, is the creative division charged with strategically integrating its content across Warner Bros. Entertainment and Time Warner. DC Entertainment works in concert with many key Warner Bros. divisions to unleash its stories and characters across all media, including but not limited to film, television, consumer products, home entertainment and interactive games. Publishing thousands of comic books, graphic novels and magazines each year, DC Entertainment is the largest English-language publisher of comics in the world. In January 2012, DC Entertainment, in collaboration with Warner Bros. and Time Warner divisions, launched We Can Be Heroes—a giving campaign featuring the iconic Justice League super heroes—to raise awareness and funds to fight the hunger crisis in the Horn of Africa.
SUPERGIRL and all related characters and elements are trademarks of and © DC Comics.
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Media Contacts:
Jennifer Chidester Bobby Shadley
ASA Entertainment Group, LLC Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP)
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