“The first wave that I got, I was already doing a few steps on. I just picked it up naturally and from then it’s been like a real passion of mine,” she recalled to the Herald.
“The waves that I was surfing, they were quite soft waves at Fitzroy Beach, so a longboard was a lot better for those types of waves. Especially at Waiwhakaiho, which is the main break that I go to. It’s an A-frame, and it’s got really perfect longboarding waves.”
This year, Williamson Sasia has turned that passion into competitive results, winning the Women’s Open and Under-18 titles at the national championships and has since gone on to compete on the World Surf League (WSL) Australia/Oceania qualifying series.
In October, she will be part of the youngest-ever team sent to represent New Zealand at the International Surfing Association (ISA) World Longboarding Championships in El Salvador.
Williamson Sasia is joined by team captain Jack Tyro (19), Jaxon Willows (18) and Te Waiotu Fairlie (18) – all of whom have competed in WSL Australia/Oceania qualifying series events, with Tyro ranked No 12 on the WSL longboard championship tour.
The WSL Australia/Oceania qualifying series held an event at Fitzroy Beach in New Plymouth earlier this year, the first time in more than a decade the WSL has come to Taranaki and the first time it has brought a longboarding event to New Zealand.
It reflects a trend Williamson Sasia’s father, Craig Williamson, said has developed in the sport.
Williamson, chief executive of Surfing Taranaki, will manage the New Zealand team in El Salvador and said there has been a resurgence in longboarding in recent years.
“The World Tour is looking pretty good and pretty strong and something to aspire to,” he said.
“There’s always the chance that longboarding will be included in the Olympics in Brisbane in 2032, which isn’t so far away, and especially in social media, if you look on Instagram and stuff, the longboarders are becoming influencers and it’s this whole lifestyle thing built around longboarding.
“It’s moved back to traditional longboarding, which is great. Using the full length of your board, nose riding, hanging five, hanging ten, not so much shortboarding on a longboard. So, it’s quite different from shortboarding.”
While shortboard surfing at the highest levels is known for strong turns and aerial tricks to get high scores, longboarding is a style-based sport. Judges are always going to give points for difficulty, but they look for riders using the full length of the board and how smooth they are, among other criteria, to award points.
Williamson said while all the athletes in the team heading to El Salvador also ride shortboards, longboarding adds another dynamic to the sport they love.
“You don’t always have to go chasing the biggest, the most powerful waves. You can longboard anywhere, in any conditions. So here in New Plymouth, Izzy and I, we’re looking for the best longboard wave, not necessarily the best wave on the coast at any given time, which is quite cool.”
The team will face different conditions when they arrive in El Salvador, with bigger swells and much warmer water expected.
“Anything could happen, and I’m sure they’ll do well, but it is really exciting that it is such a young team with such a long runway in front of them,” Williamson said.
“It’s all about creating pathways and opportunities, and the experience they get over there will be invaluable in the years to come.”
Christopher Reive joined the Herald sports team in 2017, bringing the same versatility to his coverage as he does to his sports viewing habits.