Jodie Barsby

Jodie Barsby-Fowler

1982-

 

When did you start surfing?

I actually didn’t start surfing, I started body boarding when I was about 11-12 years old. During that time I joined our local Board Riders club called Crescent Head Board riders. I was competing against my friends (mostly guys) and then I had a go on my dad’s old Mal which was made by Peter Clarke and being so heavy at the time, I used to make my towel into a ball and put on my head and walk from my house walk across the golf course without getting hit by a golf ball and then to the beach which to between 5 – 10mins sometimes longer because it was hurting my head!!

How did you start surfing?

Relating back to the last question, before I even took up surfing I was playing golf and was doing really well too as a sub junior. But because I was into my sport I first started playing soccer, then golf and then surfing it was just another sport I took up at the time especially when you live at such a pristine place that is one of Australia’s best point breaks and now a surf reserve, I just kept taking the old mal and teaching myself to surf until when I was 13 my Mum and Dad bought me a brand new Bob Kennerson (Local Legend) Longboard and I was hooked on it.

I was getting taught by Helen Cross (Bonny Hills) who was living at Crescent Head at Crescent Head at the time. She encouraged me to start competin and then attended a surf school that was taught by Owen Jones (aka OJ) then later down the track I was approached by Peter Hudson (Australian Longboard Champion) who has started his own surf school at Port Macquarie.

Which surf breaks are your favourite and/or what breaks helped shaped your surf style?

I love surfing around my local beach breaks when I can, I mean if the swell is missing the point, the place to be is down the beach and it does have some great banks when its turned on. When go away to catch up with mates, go surfing I love surfing around their home beach breaks as well.

I believe if you surf a variety of beach breaks it definitely helps you shape your surf style for e.g. surfing left hand beach breaks when you surf right hand point breaks.

What does surfing mean to you? Has your relationship with surfing changed overtime? If so, how?

Surfing means, relaxing, fun, stoke and capturing that moment, sharing your stories amongst your friends, reminiscing and meeting new people. My relationship with surfing has definitely changed over the time. Back then I was just surfing so much that I had to be home by a certain time and because I can see my house from the water, Mum had a towel signal for me. She would leave the yellow towel which meant I can keep on surfing but if she put a red towel out then it was time for me to come home. Plus as I was growing up I was taking a lot of time off school because the surf was on fire or we would pack up and Dad would drive me to nearly every comp on the coast, it didn’t bother me because I was doing something that I loved and my Mum and Dad loved it too because they got a holiday out of it every time hahaha.

As I got older, I had my own car to travel to comps and being legal to go out played a big factor, I remember when I was 16 and I was doing
Now that I’m working full-time it’s not as easy to take time off when you could back in High School, yeah you can still get the time off and have as much free time if you were studying at university but having the drive to keep on surfing and competing slowly starts to burn out. I don’t regret it at all where my surfing has taken me because I wouldn’t be writing this profile together.

I don’t spend a lot of time in the water especially in the last year, just because it was all about working and plus I was playing soccer as well. I also felt the reason behind my surfing had stopped because of the changes that were happening with my board sponsors Hawaiian Pro Designs, I had up to 4 boards and it kept me going, especially having a quiver of different boards to surf at different times. But I felt that without explaining they took 2 boards away from me. Especially in the last couple of years ever since Donald Takayama had passed on everything had changed. Donald was the only person who cared about how you were surfing and making sure that you were getting looked after. Here in Australia  is different, I keep getting asked the same questions ‘What boards have you got?’ was the popular one, not ‘How did you go in the comp?’. I felt that all that nurturing is either gone or was never there.

What’s it like to be a female surfer?

I think it’s pretty cool, especially when you’re encouraging other girls to surf. I suppose at time it felt like you had to prove yourself to others that you are a good surfer so that you don’t get dropped in on but even now all the surf etiquette rules are thrown out the window.
What challenges and/or benefits have you encountered being a female surfer?

When you’re in the line-up, I suppose the benefits of being a female surfer is that other surfers know of you through competing or whether they have seen you in magazines or surf videos or know you from your home break.

I don’t think I have had any challenges in the past but have in the present time. I always say to myself especially when your surfing a different break, is to respect others before they respect you (depending on where you surf) some cases are different. Probably the reason behind that is because of the surf etiquette no longer exists and if people are going to have that kind of attitude especially surfing at my home break, I’m not going to tolerate with that crap and that’s the challenge of it too!! I get so annoyed when people come to Crescent Head and don’t respect the local surfers and just snake for every wave.

What was it like growing up as a female surfer in your era and location both in the line-up and on land?

Growing up was good because of the support I had from my local community, my Mal Club, family and friends. At times I felt it was over whelming, at the time (being honest) I loved the attention but I wasn’t going to let it get to my surfing.

I felt that I had to achieve something and I know now that there are still a few goals that I need to achieve!!

Have you taught others to surf? If so, what is your philosophy in sharing surfing with others?

I have done some surf coaching for Modjo Surf in the past which was fun! I also volunteered to help out when I was at Cardiff Reef California competing in Roxy Pro and unfortunately I got knocked out in the early round but I really enjoyed teaching one of the girls to surf. I got a buzz out of it because the girl was a natural and she was having so much fun and I felt that I had achieved something for that girl.

I’d say that my philosophy is just have fun in the water, doesn’t matter whether you’re a bad surfer but at the end of the day as long as you have the biggest smile on your face and happy about your surf session and sharing your stories with others it makes your day!

Who are your surfing aspirations?

When I was 16 my first big event was the Malfunction held at the Gold Coast. I was surfing against Australia’s best women surfers Sandy Day, Jenny Sheehan, Robyn Burgess, Sandy Knight and Louise White who were the finalists. I ended up getting 3rd and I was so happy about it. Little did I know that I was going to receive something else that I had no idea I was going to get and I remember my mate Joey Cooper wanted to tell me the great news so bad that he wasn’t allowed.
I was approached by Midget Farrelly and he introduced me to Bonga Perkins. Bonga won the Opens Mens Pro division and recently had won the World Longboard Titles. From what I have been told was that he saw me surf and he was stoked the way I was surfing that he gave me his Longboard he won on. Words could not describe on how stoked I was, I think I cried with joy!! This had changed my surfing career and that’s when I started to complete a lot.

My surfing aspirations include:
Bonga Perkins
Joel Tudor
Bob ‘Kenno’ Kennerson (my local legend)
Cori Schumacher
Jeff Kramer
Kevin Connelly ‘Magic Feet’
Kassia Meador
Jye Byrnes
Heith Norrish

My surfing mates Chelsea Williams and Melissa Combo especially even though we wouldn’t show it but every time we would go surfing one person had to go better than the other. I think it was basically an instinct because we would compete all time especially when it was against each other.

Did you compete? If you competed when/where/what associations and best placings.

I competed in competitions for over 10 years. Most of them were nationally and then I competed in a few events in Calfornia. First overseas event was conducted by Linda Benson at Ocean Beach and the next year it was conducted by Roxy which was held at Cardiff Reef.

Photos of Jodie

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