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The national surfing regulatory body celebrates 20 years of history in a big way.

It will be 20 years since its founding when, back in the year 2000, the idea arose to start an entity that would look after everything related to surfing.

The Costa Rican Surf Federation is the national representative body for the sport of surfing.

Since 2006, this organization has been a member of the International Surfing Association (ISA) and has participated in hosting two major world surfing championships in our country.

Throughout this journey of federated surfing, world championships and runner-up titles have been achieved, consolidating a position in the sport of waves.

In addition to creating a National Surf Circuit that seeks to bring the sport to different beaches in our country, as well as the continuous development of national athletes in tournaments that serve to catapult them abroad.

We shared with two active members of the Board of Directors of the Costa Rican Surf Federation, Mr. Jose Ureña and Mr. Randall Chaves, who provided some information about the current Federation.

Interview with José Ureña, current member of the Federation and former president of the same several years ago.

Where and how did the Costa Rican Surf Federation originate?

“It started with a private event about twenty years ago, where at a Quiksilver tournament in Terrazas, the winner was Jeff Booth, a surfer who was on the CT at the time and donated the prize money, as he wanted to use it to form an association. A group was formed there that started the whole movement, initially led by Antonio Pilurzo and Christopher Commarieu, and this marked the beginning of the National Circuit after the era of Fran Mora, who supported national surfing.”


Jeff Booth - Surfer who donated his prize money to the creation of the Federation.

What was the reason for the decision to create it?

"This is because the planning at that time wasn't the best, and details regarding sponsors and other aspects needed to be sorted out to avoid problems at world championships. Furthermore, training is being provided to give national surfers a platform and offer a higher quality National Circuit."


What benefits has its creation brought to Costa Rican surfing?

“Today we are living with the generations we have, they are the fruit of a long work, where to give you a clear example would be Carlos Muñoz who is a 100% product of the Federation, who started competing with us when he was about 5 or 6 years old and this whole generation has been born in this Circuit in addition to the other generations that were before Carlos, basically what has been achieved is to provide a platform to improve their level and exposure with brands to be able to maintain their careers in a good way.”


During this time, what achievements have been made in terms of athletic development?

“The results are evident today. We started a circuit with approximately twenty surfers, and now we have events where we've registered up to three hundred surfers, across a record number of categories, and more are being added. The change has been exceptional on a sporting level, and we're constantly striving for improvement. When Antonio handed the Federation over to me, we began working with the people at ICODER (the Costa Rican Institute of Sports and Recreation). Initially, their support was minimal because they saw us as a very small sport. But as we started achieving sporting results and improving the quality of travel for the national teams—with the Federation covering all expenses so the surfers only had to worry about competing, not about spending their own money as in previous years—the National Circuit is the largest in all of Latin America, with the technological and infrastructural resources for developing new national talent. Whoever is on the board, we hope they will continue this work of training and expanding the sport of surfing.”

- Interview with Randall Chaves, current president of the Costa Rican Surfing Federation.

How long have you been in charge of the Federation?

“I started 6 years ago and previously I was vice president. In the beginning I joined as a judge, since Mr. Christopher Jimenez brought me in because they needed people with knowledge of surfing. At that time the president was Antonio Pilurzo and then Jose Ureña until I was elected as president.”

What has been achieved during your term and what's next for the Federation in its anniversary year?

"One of the most important things that has developed during my administration is seeing the growth and credibility that we have given to our sport, where we have seen many of the boys and girls who are the current idols of Costa Rican surfing grow."

As a federative body, can you give us a few words about what it means to celebrate 20 years of hard work and popularization of the sport of surfing?

"You're right, it's hard work, and you have to be on top of the Federation's obligations every single day. We have to strictly follow the guidelines issued by ICODER, the organization that has helped us grow and made the Federation one of the best in management and achievements. And now that surfing is in the Olympic Games, the challenge is even greater to achieve the dream of so many athletes and fans of our sport. Two hundred years of growth and management is something not just anyone can skip, and we currently have a high-quality circuit at the Latin American level."
I say this with authority, because we have seen that many athletes from other countries come to run our Circuit because it is so competitive due to our athletes and its development.
We will always be preparing and training our staff, and it is something I am proud of, since they are the ones who make the competitors more professional every day.
“We’ve had 20 years of collaboration with sponsoring brands, and many have been with us for years, which is important for making the CNS happen.”

Written by: Enrique Hernández

General Management: Marco Montero