A few days ago, the WSL surprised with the news that it was adding a specific webcast in Spanish to its broadcasts for the entire 2018 tour. The organization that governs the world surfing tour made a consistent effort for the first time to open the door to a language that had had very little room previously - there were tournaments in Spain and a Pipe Masters broadcast in Spanish.

The following four players were invited to the broadcast: Argentine Mateo Rojas and Mexicans Mitchell Salazar, Fito Garcia and Kalle Carranza. They, like the Brazilian team, will be broadcasting from a broadcast booth at the WSL offices in California.

Rojas, a local surfer from Quequén, a beach resort with good waves south of Mar del Plata, began his career as a surfing commentator at the events of the Latin American Association of Professional Surfers (ALAS) in 2008, then worked at the ISA and has now been welcomed by the WSL. He is a director of photography and partner of Mundo Zero, the production company that makes the legendary extreme sports program, Gravedad Zero.

In the following paragraphs she shares a little of the inside story of her experience in the WSL.

How does the transmission work?
From a technical point of view, it is very professional. The signal arrives from Australia to the WSL headquarters where there are several transmission studios; we have one for us and another for the Portuguese team. From there we report and adapt to the timing that comes from the Gold Coast.

What are the facilities like?
The offices are amazing, very spacious, decorated with things from the tour, there are boards, lycra, trophies, it has a super beachy bar inside, always keeping the Californian style, and we are one block from the beach. The place is dreamy and very nice.

Who is your boss?
The technical director is Rob Hammer, he explains how everything works, he taught us how to use the consoles and all the technical aspects. We already feel comfortable, the equipment is state-of-the-art, we have many monitors with all the camera angles and scores from all the judges; nothing is missing, everything is top of the line.

Do you receive any information on a daily basis or do you create your own “scripts”?
They gave us a book-sized PDF with a lot of information, but they gave us a lot of freedom. There is a routine for how to present the heats, but they know that the Latin and Hispanic public is different and they let us give our own tone to the story.

How was the fight with sleep?
It was difficult! We had to deal with three time zones, the one at home, the one in Australia and the one in California, which changed to daylight saving time yesterday. Today I feel more comfortable. The first day was the hardest, but with so many surfers in the water we stayed awake.

What was the main challenge?
At first I thought I would have to adapt to my teammates whom I didn't know, but then the truth is that we went well, Mitchel (Salazar) is very technical and has a lot of information and statistics, Fito is very charismatic, friendly and always lifts your spirits, the truth is that it was great to accompany that team.

What was the atmosphere like in the office?
So far we have only been there on Saturday and Sunday, when there are not many people. Today, Monday, we will surely see what the dynamics are like at the WSL on a weekday, which I imagine, given the size of the place, will have a lot of people working.

How was it to be part of the broadcast with Fito and Mitchell?
The guys are really good people and that's key when you're going to be sitting for so many hours talking. Kalle Carranza was the one who put the team together and he's a great person who prioritizes that in addition to knowledge. It feels good to be comfortable when you're so far from home and with so many hours of work.

How's this going? Are you staying in California for a month and a half? 
After the Gold Coast event I have to go back home, I have to move and my kids started school, I need to go and be with them for a few days, then I go back to Bells and Margaret and there I will stay for those two events with Kalle, who besides being a teammate, is a friend and we are going to take advantage of the opportunity to surf and catch up on things here in California.