It’s official Narrabeen has usurped Snapper Rocks as a CT event on the Australian leg of the WSL.
COVID-19 bureaucracy and a bit of old-fashioned interstate argey-bargey is at the centre of the decision to ditch the Snapper event and Green Light Narrabeen.
According to reports in the mainstream press, the Queensland government refused to provide the WSL with a pre-approved quarantine hub system to enter the state. The WSL interpreted this as an indicator that there was no guarantee that the Queensland border would be open to its athletes. “We had to de-risk our sport,” WSL’s Asia Pacific manager Andrew Stark told the Sydney Morning Herald.
Despite its tough border policies
The Queensland tourism body was bitter about losing the major event and accused the WSL of making the decision because they didn’t want to pay for the Quarantine of WSL athletes.
It’s a major coup for Narrabeen, which hosted several glorious ASP events throughout the 80s and 90s. Typically the Narrabeen crew would have a home town hero to cheer for but for the first time in decades, North Narra’ does not have a representative on either the men's or women's CT tours.
Despite the lack of local representation, it’s likely that Narrabeen will wholeheartedly support the return of Pro Surfing to its golden sands and get behind whichever home-grown wildcard makes it into the main event. Meanwhile, Snapper and Coolangatta will continue to provide the highlight reel for the best waves ridden in Oz over the first half of 2021.
Here's some bonus vintage Coke Classic vision from the last time Narrabeen was a tour stop.
