The ISA women's judging programme attracted 127 women from 34 countries ©ISA

The International Surfing Association's (ISA) inaugural women's judging programme attracted 127 women from 34 countries.

Participants tuned in to learn from two American members of the judging panel for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games - judge and world longboard champion Tory Gilkerson and ISA technical director Erik Krammer. 

Held online from December 1 to 3, the course aimed to develop female judges around the world, promote gender equality in surfing and produce more qualified women for the ISA World Championship judging panels. 

Any woman who was interested in advancing their skills in surf judging and had been endorsed by their National Surfing Federation was offered the opportunity to attend.

"It has been great to see the amount of women that have shown interest in the programme," said Gilkerson. 

"I am inspired by how many women have a real interest and desire to get involved in surf judging.

"The course was extremely productive for the development of female judges, so I am stoked that the ISA took the initiative to create this platform. 

"I hope that there are some judges that took part in the programme that I will get to work with on a panel in the future."

American judge and world longboard champion Tory Gilkerson presented the ISA programme for female judges ©ISA
American judge and world longboard champion Tory Gilkerson presented the ISA programme for female judges ©ISA

ISA President Fernando Aguerre spoke to participants at the beginning of the session. 

"Now is the time to start changing the way things are," he said.

"The fact is there are not enough women involved in the judging of our sport, so this programme is a strong first step to push closer to gender parity.

"I want to especially thank every woman that attended the course. 

"I hope that they are just the seeds of much larger trees - the first wave of female judges that will work towards the highest level. 

"By the time the 2024 Games come around, there will be way more qualified female judges.

"While this is a great start, this is just the beginning. 

"We look forward to continuing to develop and grow women’s surfing and judging. 

"Surely some of these course participants will earn a spot on a future judging panel at an ISA World Championship."

Surfing is set to make its debut at Tokyo 2020, which was rescheduled to July 23 to August 8 2021 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.