Surfing Sonrisas organized the first Para Surf certification in Mexico.

Photography: Javier Oz.

Last September 13 and 14, Surfing Sonrisas, together with some allies, we brought to Mexico (Nuevo Nayarit, Nayarit) the first parasurf certification in the history of the country, becoming the first association on the Latin American continent to certify surf instructors, this we achieve through International Surfing Association (ISA) who are the highest body within the sport of surfing.

22 instructors from different parts of Mexico received this certification (BJC, NAY, JAL, GTO and SIN.)

This certification marks a before and after for Surfing Smiles and for para surfing in Mexico for the following reasons:

• 70 % of surf instructors own their own surf schools, the other 30 % work for an existing surf school
• 60% of surf instructors already support our NGO and the rest are going to start doing so.

This is great because we need them to continue impacting more children.

This certification and those to come will help us get more certified instructors in different beach cities, which will allow us to have more alliances and the possibility of doing more clinics in other cities, in addition, more surf schools will be inclusive and there will be more opportunities for that people with disabilities surf and practice other water sports and that more and more people get involved with adapted water sports and the main objective here is that parasurfing can exist as an option in Mexico.

This is just the beginning of our effort and commitment to make parasurfing increasingly popular in our country and in the world, ensuring that more and more surf schools are qualified to receive people with disabilities among their students, and that This surfing culture generates, in turn, greater accessibility for people with disabilities on beaches and tourist areas.