Champions Line Up For Inaugural Be The Influence Avalon Cup

A selection of the best longboarders from around the globe are headed to Western Australia (WA) for the first ever Be The Influence Avalon Cup, a 2-Star rated ASP Longboard Qualifying Series (LQS) event.

LQS events are vital to the career pathway of professional surfers-- Avalon winners will accumulate qualifying points for the ASP World Longboard Championships (WLC)--and the 2-Star rating has attracted the attention of former ASP World Champions and Australian champion longboarders.

Taylor Jensen at the LQS in Kingscliff earlier this year. - WSL

Taylor Jensen (USA) and his partner Nava Young (AUS), daughter of iconic Australian surfer Nat Young, will both be competing in the upcoming event. Jensen won back-to-back WLC Titles in 2011 and 2012 but fell short last year. He heads into the Be The Influence Avalon Cup looking to regain his competitive edge.

"It's great to have another event on tour, it's huge actually – the more events the better," Jensen said. "You have better odds across the events to do well and it ensures that the best surfers end up on tour."

Georgia Young (AUS), current Australian Longboard Champion and ninth place finisher at the ASP World Longboard Championships, is entering the event hoping to use Avalon as a warmup for the 2014 ASP World Longboard Championships, which will be held at a similar left-hand point break in China.

"I think there's only six [events] in the world at the moment, so to have one in my backyard is so great," Georgia Young said. "Avalon and Iso's [Isolators Reef] are waves that I surf so often."

Georgia Young loving the lefts in China last year. - WSL

Surfing WA works tirelessly on providing platforms and events for surfers from WA and from all over the world to display their talents, giving them opportunities to compete on the world stage. Along those lines, the addition of the Be The Influence Avalon Cup is an exciting step for longboarders in WA.

"Not only is it great to see some of the world's best male and female longboarders making their way to Avalon to compete, it will also be fantastic to give the WA surfers an opportunity to challenge them in their own backyard while giving our current crop of young and established longboarders an opportunity to launch their careers," said Mark Lane, CEO of Surfing WA.

Dane Jordan, ASP Australasia General Manager is excited to see the amount of longboarding events on the rise and by the prospect of hosting another ASP event in the West.

"The Be The Influence Avalon Cup is a great addition to the ASP calendar in Australasia," Jordan said. "Avalon point is a fantastic wave that offers unique challenges and experiences for our competitors. ASP is grateful for the support and hard work of Surfing WA and the Be the Influence initiative to allow us to offer our surfers more opportunities."

Taylor Jensen cross stepping in China last year. - WSL

For more information log on to <a href="http://avalon.prosurfinglive.com/“ target=“_blank”>Avalon.ProSurfingLive.com http://Avalon.ProSurfingLive.com

This event is supported by the Be the Influence - Tackling Binge Drinking initiative, part of the Australian Government's National Binge Drinking Strategy addressing youth binge drinking and raising awareness of the long and short term impacts of harmful drinking among young people through sport sponsorships and other activities. HIF (Health Insurance Fund of Australia), SunSmart, Healthway, Department of Sport and Recreation.