<div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;">“We are excited to be back on the beach to bring surfing back to North America for the first time in over a year with this year’s Jack’s Pro,” co-owner of Jack’s Surfboards Jamal Abdelmuti said. “It’s a great event to give local surfers a chance to earn QS points here in Huntington Beach. The importance of having a women’s event for QS points is just as important as the men’s. The women are bringing just as much heat and we are thrilled to be able to give them the same opportunity as the men to earn their QS points, they deserve it. With this being the first year of surfing in the Olympics we think it’s a great time to show women what they’re capable of.”</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;">A sought-after opportunity to join the Championship Tour (CT) elite begins with this event for North America competitors as they look to qualify for the newly formed Challenger Series (CS). The Challenger Series will comprise of the top 96 men and 64 women from around the world as the ultimate battleground for CT qualification through CS events.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">“We couldn’t be more excited to have our surfers back and competing once again,” North America Regional Manager Meg Bernardo said. “This event has grown brilliantly and, with the addition of our women competitors, shows Jack’s Surfboards commitment to competitive surfing. The significance of this event at this juncture of the year is massive as it gives our regional surfers a chance to lock in their Challenger Series spots with the top 10 men and top 8 qualifying for the CS.” </div> <div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;">This event returns for its fourth installment with the introduction of a 40-women format as they look for their chance into the Challenger Series. North America’s premier upcoming talent including former World Junior Champion Kirra Pinkerton, 2019 Super Girl Pro victor Samantha Sibley, and 2019 US Open Junior winner Caitlin Simmers, and standout QS competitor Alyssa Spencer among more will battle veteran talents such as former CT surfer, Barbados’ first-ever representative at the elite level, Chelsea Tuach.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">“I’m really looking forward to this event after not surfing an event in the ocean for what feels like two years,” said 2019 QS No. 2 Pinkerton. “It’ll be a good start and then I’m a little nervous about the four Challenger Series events just not competing for so long. This event shows that women are making their way up and that everything will be equal moving on which is really exciting to see.” </div> <div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;">The list of men’s competitors vying for valuable points ranges from former Championship Tour (CT) competitors including current North America QS No. 1 Nat Young and veteran Nathan Yeomans (USA) to emerging talents such as Challenger Series threats Cole Houshmand (USA), reigning 2019 Jack's Surfboard Pro winner Crosby Colapinto (USA), and reigning North America Regional QS Champion Noah Schweizer. These competitors and more will be battling for their place in the Challenger Series to continue their dream of joining the world’s best.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">“I think all of this time off has really made me miss and appreciate competing,” said former CT competitor Young. “I am looking forward to competing again soon and it is exciting now that we have some official dates locked in. For most of us I would assume this is the longest time away from competition so I’m sure everyone is just very excited. This QS 1,000 is a very important event for the guys ranked between 8-13 who are looking to qualify for the top 10 and get into the Challenger Series events. There’s a lot on the line for those guys so it will make it very exciting.”</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">This season, athletes will be able to roll over points from their best Qualifying Series event in 2020. The 2021 Challenger Series rankings will comprise of a surfer's best three results out of five events, the four 2021 events and one 2020 event - as reported in a previous WSL announcement. The Jack's Surfboards Pro is North America's final opportunity to secure their spot within the CS which begins in late September.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Check out the event's teaser <a href="https://www.worldsurfleague.com/posts/479620/jacks_pro_teaser_2" target="_blank">here</a>.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;">The <strong>Jack's Surfboards Pro QS 1,000</strong> (<a href="https://www.boardriding.com/events/mens-jacks-surfboards-pro-2021" target="_blank">Men's</a> & <a href="https://www.boardriding.com/events/womens-jacks-surfboards-pro-2021-tentative" target="_blank">Women's</a>) will run <strong>August 5 - 8 in Huntington Beach, California</strong>. For more information please visit <a href="https://www.worldsurfleague.com/" target="_blank">www.worldsurfleague.com</a>.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"><strong>About the WSL</strong> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> Established in 1976, the <a href="https://www.boardriding.com/associations/world-surf-league" target="_blank">World Surf League (WSL)</a> is the home of the world's best surfing. </div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> A global sports, media and entertainment company, the WSL oversees international tours and competitions, a studios division creating over 500+ hours of live and on-demand content, and via affiliate WaveCo, the home of the world's largest high performance, human-made wave. Headquartered in Santa Monica, California, the WSL has regional offices in North America, Latin America, Asia Pacific, and EMEA.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> The WSL annually crowns the men’s and women’s surfing World Champions. The global Tours and Competition division oversees and operates more than 180 global contests each year across the Championship Tour, the development tiers, including the Challenger, Qualifying and Junior Series, as well as longboard and big wave properties. </div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> Launched in 2019, WSL Studios is an independent producer of unscripted television projects, including documentaries and series, which provide unprecedented access to athletes, events, and locations around the world. WSL events and content are distributed on linear television in over 743M+ homes worldwide and across digital and social media platforms around the world, including WorldSurfLeague.com. </div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> WaveCo includes the Surf Ranch Lemoore facility and the utilizing and licensing of the Kelly Slater Wave System.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> The WSL is dedicated to changing the world through the inspirational power of surfing by creating authentic events, experiences, and storytelling to inspire a growing, global community to live with purpose, originality, and stoke. </div> <div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: right;">Press Release Source: www.worldsurfleague.com</div>