Introducing the next generation of young Black surfers — Assembly

Students from Brazil, Senegal and South Africa share how the organisation Black Girls Surf taught them confidence on and off the board.

When 13-year-old Senegalese student Khady Mbengue first started surfing, she found herself transported in the water. “When I go surfing is like I'm in another world,” she says.

Khady is a member of Black Girls Surf, an organisation founded by Rhonda Harper that works to make the sport more accessible to young Black women. A longtime surfer, Rhonda founded Black Girls Surf after noticing the lack of visibility of Black women in professional surfing. With locations now in Brazil, Ghana, Jamaica, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone and the U.S., the nonprofit is diversifying the water and the international surf narrative.

Black Girls Surf provides girls with the support and leadership skills they need to thrive on and off the board through surf training programmes taught by coaches, mentors and trainers of colour. For many girls in the organisation, the experience is life changing. Khady explains that in her hometown in Senegal "everybody wants you to stay home, cleaning, have kids, marry." Surfing offered her an alternative path. Thanks to Black Girls Surf, Khady was able to reenrol in school and is back on track to finish her education.

We spoke to Khady and her fellow Black Girls Surf members, 12-year-old Brazilian student Maria Eduarda Cesar and 14-year-old South African student Zia Hendricks, about what they love about surfing, how they balance sport and schoolwork and what you need to know before you pick up a surfboard.

Maria Eduarda Cesar, 12, Brazil

My favourite subject in school is... English, because I like talking to people and it will help me a lot in my surfing career.

I love… my family. They are great, always supporting me in everything I do. They give me love, care and education. I also love teachers and classmates. At the moment I am taking online classes because of the pandemic. I miss hugging my teachers and classmates. I hope this will pass soon.

I like to listen to… gospel and Bob Marley.

On a typical day, I… get up early. I say my prayer. I have breakfast and then I go surfing. When I come from the beach, I shower, eat and study in the afternoon. I play with my friends, I skateboard, I exercise, and then I have dinner and go to sleep.

Because of Black Girls Surf… now I have the confidence, the guidance and support to make them proud.

Surfing taught me… discipline, attention, self-confidence and patience. It means everything to me. I wake up and go to sleep everyday breathing surfing. I love just being in the ocean and getting the feel of being carried along by the wave.

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I like to compete because… I like to feel the adrenaline and my favorite part is raising the trophy.

I’m proud of… becoming my home state champion and an International Surfing Association (ISA) ambassador.

I wish the surfing community in Brazil… had more support, like local sponsors and a strong Brazilian tour. There are lots of talents all over Brazil right now.

As a young woman in the sport… catching waves is an everyday challenge when you surf among boys. I paddle harder and pay more attention to my surroundings than anyone else in the water.

When I’m older, I want to be… a world champion and be able to help other kids through sport.

I wish I had known before I started surfing that… it's really addicting!!!

Khady Mbengue, 13, Senegal

My favourite subject in school is… writing and math.

I like going to Black Girls Surf because… they're like family and every day we're happy together, doing everything together. We're all from the same town and we're all like the same family.

I started surfing with Black Girls Surf... last year and they helped me a lot. The program is so good. We get up in the morning, they provide healthy breakfast. And after we go training, doing some exercise, like gym day, and after that we go surfing. And the program is so good. And after that we have to go to school in the afternoon.

Because of Black Girls Surf… my education is better than before because I had stopped school and now I am back in school. Even when we need to eat in the morning, afternoon and the night — everything we need for eating — they pay. Even clothes for doing sports, shoes for doing other sports. Before I do surf, I didn't do anything. I stayed home and doing cooking or cleaning the house. Now I still do that but surfing changed a lot of things in my life. And it's like because when I go surfing is like I'm in another world.

When I’m older, I want to be… a professional surfer competing everywhere in the world. I want to have a good job with a sponsor and everything.

Surfing taught me… confidence, patience and a lot of work. You have to have courage in surfing because if you don't have courage, you're never going to be able to continue because we have a lot of boys, we don't have girls.

In the future… I want to compete as soon as possible to have more experience in surf contests.

In the Senegal surf community… we are all family. We don't have a lot of girls, we have a lot of boys. Sometimes it's difficult to surf because you have to fight to have a wave. But we're all family.

My advice to other girls who want to start surfing is… don't listen to other people. In Senegal if you say you’re gonna go surf, they say, “Oh go home or stay home for cooking or cleaning.” Just don't listen to them. If you love it, do it. Do what you want to do, go surfing if you want to go surfing. Do another thing if it's not surfing. But don't ever ever listen to the other people.