KL:
Why do you think so many of the competitive surfer
girls are so apathetic about the sport and industry?
P: I think it comes down sometimes to rejection
and wanting approval. You live your life with
constant fear of rejection and a constant feeling
that you need to be approved by something higher
than you, or a hierarchy, and you feel powerless
and so a lot of people just have an apathetic
attitude. It takes a lot of courage to wake up
every morning in the face of some adversity and
get on with something, to look a bit past yourself.
I think a lot of the girls haven't developed the
coping skills to do that, so it still sits at
base level. It's been a symptom of all sorts of
social circles in society where people haven't
had the opportunities that others have for reasons
of race, or whatever. It just needs a few people
to get in there and lead the way and keep pushing
for that and basically the apathetic girls won't
be as many one day, if the girls stick together
and push further.
KL:
It seems like the girls who were around when women's
surfing suddenly got bigger are still big up in
the scene. Why do you think the girls who are
a bit younger, who totally rip at surfing, aren't
as well known and publicized, despite their fly
moves?
PJ: Yeah, hmmm, that's kind of a trick question
there; you're just sucking me into this. Um, when
you really break it all down, it's the competition.
You've got to be exceptionally driven and exceptionally
focused and desiring. You know, you're a grom
and desiring all those things, and you work real
hard to get it, once you're there you're gonna
milk as long as you can. For me, I got bored with
the WCT and was ready to move onto other things.
I didn't want to have to paddle around and beat
people anymore. I had absolutely no competitive
bone left in my body, so it was time to move on.
But obviously the girls are still there because
they have exceptional drive as far as the competitive
side of it goes. Any grom coming up, trying to
get a little bit of their own action, it's formidable
for them. They were definitely an era. I had to
deal with it. Gosh, when I was a grom on tour,
there was Pauline Menczer, Frieda Zamba, Lisa
Anderson, Pam Burridge, Kim Mearig, Jodie Cooper…
In the one year I started there were probably
six world champions out of the top eleven and
they were there and they were gonna stay there
as long as they could. It's just like that.
KL:
Do you ever have tears for fears?
PJ: Yeah, I think basically that's kinda what
this life is about. You were born into this world
with no fears and as you grow up you start accumulating
them, and that's the battle, that's what living
is all about. Every day that goes by there are
a whole bunch of fears that happen. I totally
have a pigeon phobia, that's one of them, and
that's perfectly natural.
KL:
What kind of boards have you been riding?
PJ: Kinda crazy ones. Actually, I just thought
about it the other day and probably for a solid
year now I haven't even ridden my normal high
performance thrusters. It's going be hard once
I get back on them. I've been riding a lot of
four fins, like Rich Pavel Rainbow models. They're
fun, like a fish hybrid kinda thing, really fast
and responsive. I think I've kinda gotten a little
bit addicted to the speed and planing area of
them. And yeah, I've been messing around with
some Takayama twin fins, just all kinds of retro
stuff. You know I've been surfing for a long time,
and sometimes you want to start looking for new
sensations.
KL:
Do you have any sponsors?
PJ: I wouldn't say so, I haven't really tried
very hard with that whole deal because I kinda
wanted to get off that wagon, but I get wetsuits
from in Xair wetsuits in Japan, and I get a lot
of surfboards from Rainbow in Encinitas. And Donald
Takayama gives me surfboards, and buys me lunch,
and takes me to Pala, so that would count.
Prue Jeffries
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