WORLD’S TOP FEMALE SURFERS GATHER IN OCEANSIDE FOR THE ONLY ASP STAR EVENT IN NORTH AMERICA
Los Angeles, CA (July 17, 2012) – ASA Entertainment confirmed today that the inaugural Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) 6-Star Paul Mitchell Supergirl Pro has been added to the ASP North America schedule for 2012 and will run at the Oceanside Pier in Oceanside, California from August 9 through 11, 2012.  Admission to the event is free.

The Paul Mitchell Supergirl Pro will serve as the only ASP Star event on the 2012 ASP North America calendar and will immediately follow the US Open of Surfing. The event fills a critical void in the schedule, offering the top surf talent crucial points towards their quest in joining the elite ASP Top 17.

“The Paul Mitchell Supergirl Pro is a great addition to the ASP Schedule, and as the only women’s qualifying event in North America this year, the Paul Mitchell Supergirl Pro will play a big role in deciding the surfers that qualify for the 2013 ASP WCT,” Jessi Miley-Dyer, ASP Women’s Tour Manager said. “The event is an important platform to showcase the world’s best female surfers, and we’d like to thank ASA, Paul Mitchell and Supergirl for their collaborative efforts to bring this event to life.”

Twelve of the top sixteen ranked surfers in the world have already committed to the event, including ASP World Tour stars Tyler Wright (New South Wales, AU), Laura Enever (Sydney, Australia), Carissa Moore (Honolulu, HI), Courtney Conlogue (Santa Ana, CA), Malia Manuel (Kauai, HI), Coco Ho (Oahu, HI), Rebecca Woods (New South Wales, AU), Paige Hareb (New Plymouth, NZ), Sofia Mulanovich (Lima, Peru), Pauline Ado (Bayonne, France), Justine Dupont (Lacanau, France) and Sage Erickson (Malibu, CA) as well as other favorites such as Alana Blanchard, Bruna Schmitz and Erica Hosseini.

”I can’t begin to explain how excited all of the girls are about this event”, said Malia Manuel, the 7th ranked surfer in the world and a three-time Supergirl Pro Junior Silver medalist.  “It’s so amazing to have a contest like this in the US that focuses entirely on women’s surfing.  All of the TV coverage that the event provides will be great for our sport.”

While this is the inaugural Paul Mitchell Supergirl Pro, the event actually marks the fifth year that Supergirl has supported women’s surfing.  Since 2008, the Supergirl Pro Junior has been hailed as one of the world’s biggest Pro Junior competitions, and several of the current WCT pros have previously earned spots on the Supergirl podium, including Courtney Conlogue, Coco Ho, Carissa Moore, Malia Manuel, Lakey Peterson and Sage Erickson.

“As the Supergirl Jam Series has grown in popularity and recognition, we felt that it was important to take a bold step in our support of women’s surfing”, 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.  “The fact that there were no ASP Star events for the girls in North America was a real injustice, and we wanted to provide the opportunity to showcase women’s surfing to an even broader audience in the US.  Warner Bros. has been a leader in this support for the past five years and we are pleased that our friends at Paul Mitchell shared in that vision and stepped up to help make this happen.”

The Paul Mitchell Supergirl Pro is the first event of the 2012 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.
“The Supergirl S-Shield is a universal symbol of empowerment and strength–and every year we’ve seen the ASP Junior girls embody those traits in and out of the water.  We’re pleased to be taking this year’s event to a new level and definitely looking forward to seeing what super powers are going to be needed to take home the coveted Supergirl cape,” said Barry Ziehl, Senior Vice President, Worldwide Marketing and Public Relations for Warner Bros. Consumer Products.

In addition to being the only Women’s Star event in North America, the Paul Mitchell Supergirl Pro will also be the largest female contest in the world in terms of the numbers of surfers that will compete.  Eighty top pros are entered for the event.

“Paul Mitchell is thrilled to be involved with such an amazing group of women, and we are proud to have the largest field of talent in women’s surfing competing at our event”, said Julie Solwold, Vice President of Global Sports and Events at John Paul Mitchell Systems.  “These girls have style, grace, beauty and athleticism that align perfectly with our brand, and we are excited to help them gain much-deserved exposure for their sport.”

The Paul Mitchell Supergirl Pro will be broadcast nationally on Fox Sports Net (FSN) and Fuel TV in the fall.  Stay tuned towww.SupergirlJam.com and www.asaentertainment.com for show times and dates.

For more detailed information on the Paul Mitchell Supergirl Pro, please visit www.SupergirlJam.com orwww.aspworldtour.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 Foster’s 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 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)
858-472-1952 Mobile                                                (949) 290-9135 Mobile
(321) 722-9300 Main                                                (714) 536-3500 Main
Jennifer@thelimelightpr.com                                    bobby@aspworldtour.com