<div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;">With 233 boys and 186 girls competing, the championship takes a big step closer to the ISA’s goal of full gender equality at 55 percent male to 45 percent female.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;">For El Salvador, the World Junior Surfing Championship is more than a sport competition. It’s a national platform to open the country to the globe as a world class destination. It’s also a moment for boys and girls from around the world to gather peacefully through surfing and to celebrate everything the ocean has to give us.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;">The Opening Ceremony is set to start tomorrow at 4pm at El Sunzal with ISA’s signature “Sands of the World” ceremony. The “Sands of the World” is a significant moment in all ISA events, where a member from each team pours sand from their local beach into a single receptacle, symbolizing the peaceful gathering of nations of the world through surfing.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;">In today’s press conference, the Minister of Tourism, Morena Valdez, ISA President, Fernando Aguerre and the whole surf team from El Salvador shared their excitement and anticipation for the start of the event.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;">ISA <strong>President Fernando Aguerre</strong>, said:</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;">“Gabriel Medina, Stephanie Gilmore, Tom Curren and many others have been ISA World Junior champions. What you do here as athletes will have a great impact on all of your careers.”</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;">“Enjoy the waves and take care of the ocean, without it there is no surf. This endless resource of happiness that is the ocean needs to be taken care of.”</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">“Only a couple of weeks after President Nayib Bukele assumed the presidency back in 2019, he got in contact with me and we started talking about working together to develop El Salvador’s future with surfing. Surfing relates to tourism certainly, but it’s also a healthy life path for younger generations.”</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;">El Salvador <strong>Tourism Minister Morena Valdez</strong>, said:</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;">“I want to thank the ISA and the Organizing Committee for the hard work, and the local athletes for representing us.”</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;">“The impact on the local economy of running this event is huge and it positions El Salvador as a real world-class surf destination.”</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Julissa Moody</strong>, El Salvador Athlete said:</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">“I’m super happy to have so many countries represented here and to be competing against the highest level of surfing around the world. Welcome to El Salvador! Enjoy our culture and our waves.”</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Zoe Benedetto</strong>, US Athlete said:</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;">“I’m so excited to be competing here at El Salvador. The World Juniors is always such a fun competition”.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;">The 2022 Surf City El Salvador ISA World Junior Surfing Championship will be broadcast live May 27 – June 5 on <a href="https://isasurf.org/" target="_blank">isasurf.org</a></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;">The schedule is as follows:</div> <div style="text-align: justify;">May 27 – Opening Ceremony: 4:00pm, El Sunzal</div><div style="text-align: justify;">May 28 – June 5 – Competition at La Bocana and El Sunzal</div><div style="text-align: justify;">June 5 – Closing Ceremony at El Sunzal following the close of competition</div>