Cover photo: WSL/Hughes

The move made by the current longboard tour manager, Kirra Seale, accompanied by the WSL, or rather, endorsed by the WSL, to leave her post to take one of the only five wildcards available to competitors from all over the world, seems quite untidy.

Basically what happened was like Jürgen Klopp deciding tomorrow to return to football, talking to the Liverpool owners that he is leaving quietly on good terms but that they are giving him a place in the team, a place that obviously is not going to be used by another aspiring footballer.

There is a bit of darkness in the maneuver because whenever there is an announcement of this type, a change of authorities, in this case Seale for Will Hayden Smith, is announced. As is also announced when a wildcard is awarded in any tournament or tour.

How did we find out about this? Because an email was sent to the tour competitors announcing it. Very under the table.

When the five wildcards are done (after the regional tours) Seale will be there in the press release.

The WSL is a private entity and it is free to do what it wants, and this is how it does and undoes what it wants, but there has to be a certain neatness in all this.

Wouldn't it have been more dignified for her to go and find her place on the tour the hard way, especially since she had a position within the tour?

I can think of comparing it to Stab in the Dark and how surfers declassify the board that they know is the brand they use because they feel it would not be right to give them the prize; they feel it is cheating. Like Dane, Jack and recently Kolohe did.

The easiest way was to play dumb and for Kolohe to say he won …Lost; his shaper and his entourage would all be happy.

Only the champion of each region qualifies for the CT of Longboard. That is, only seven female longboarders get there fighting for their place, the rest are the top 10 of the previous year, the five wildcards and two wildcards per event.

He doesn't seem very happy that one of those five positions is being occupied in this way.