Yvette Curtis: Making Waves for Women in Surfing

Series 18 Ep 3

Our guest today is Yvette Curtis, founder of Wave Wahines, a female surfing club dedicated to empowering women and girls in the sport. 

We discuss Yvette's journey from her childhood in Bristol to her current work in North Devon, the importance of fun and non-competitive environments in sports, and the challenges of promoting diversity and inclusion in surfing. 

Yvette shares her experiences of the backlash she faced when addressing issues of representation and the need for diverse voices in sports management. We explore the importance of representation and diversity in surfing and sport, the impact of Yvette’s research on UK surfing and the empowering role of surf therapy for marginalized communities. 

Yvette highlights the therapeutic benefits of surfing for mental health, the challenges of finding funding for the grassroots CIC and the growth of female participation in the sport. 

Wave Wahines which has supported hundreds of women and girls coming into the sport, along with running surf therapy with women living in refuge, sessions for resettled young female refugees, collaborations with Queer Surf Club, the first Trans and nonbinary youth surf session & hosting the first UK female focused surf contest which is now an annual event.

There’s huge recognition and celebration of Yvette’s powerful work in the areas of inclusion and ocean activism. 

Thank you to Sport England who support The Game Changers Podcast with a National Lottery award.

Find out more about The Game Changers podcast here: https://www.fearlesswomen.co.uk/thegamechangers

Hosted by Sue Anstiss
Produced by Sam Walker, What Goes On Media

A Fearless Women production