Ornella Pelizzari
by Nicole Grodesky
As published in Surfline
Against the Odds
A surfing career is tough without being financially well off. But the odds are especially stacked against someone growing up in South America where the currency is worth a third of the dollar. Yet, Ornella Pellizzari, an Argentina native, took that challenge head on.
At the age 19, Ornella left home to chase her dreams of becoming a professional surfer. She traveled for over 14 months to four different countries on three continents. She stretched herself to the limit and did whatever she had to, including crashing on various couches and working miscellaneous jobs, all for the sake of pursuing a career in surfing. “It was a really hard time for me,” Ornella recalls. “I had to work and travel at the same time. I had to use all the money I earned to reinvest in my career during the first year on the WQS.”
Ornella had a rough go here, at the US Open. But her luck recently turned the other way when she won the Ferrolterra Pantin Classic, a 3-Star WQS event in Spain. She is now rated 25th on the tour. Hopefully each year, that rating moves higher.
Ornella’s journey begins with her family in Mar del Plata, Argentina, a medium-sized city south of the capital Buenos Aires. “I went to a Catholic school and in the fifth grade, I went through my first holy communion,” explains Ornella. “There is a big celebration in the community and everyone brings you money. I took that, and all the money I had saved since I was very young and I bought my first surfboard.”
“I didn’t know that you could have a career in surfing. People started talking about Sofia, before she won the world title. She was my motivation.”
— Ornella Pellizzari
Not long after buying that board, some friends encouraged Ornella to try competing. There wasn’t much competition for the women back then, but she entered some events anyway. “I started competing the same year I started surfing,” Ornella says. “A friend told me there was a female surf competition and I tried it when I was 11, just for fun. I got second in surfing, in my category, beginners. And I won the boogie. I started competing after that and doing national competitions.”
A career as a professional surfer seemed more like fantasy than reality for people growing up in Argentina. During the winter, low funds would keep Ornella out of the water for up to three months during the winter season. “It’s freezing in the winters,” she says. “You have to wear a 4/3, gloves, booties and a hood, everything. It was hard to find a wetsuit that was my size at the time, and they were expensive.”
But icy water wasn’t enough to hinder Ornella’s drive to make it to the pro rankings. “Guys who traveled would tell me there were other girls that surf and are sponsored and they could make a living from what they did,” recalls Ornella. “I didn’t know that you could have a career in surfing. People started talking about Sofia, before she won the world title. She was my motivation.”
Opportunity was awaiting Pellizzari; all she had to do was be patient and figure things out on her own. “I spent 14 months away from home, by myself, just for surfing and competing,” Ornella says. “I traveled all over Panama, Costa Rica, the U.S. and Puerto Rico. I really enjoyed that time and I learned more about life in that time than ever.”
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