The surfer who created the first 'bodyboard' school that inspires Moroccan girls

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On Anza beach, a few kilometers from Taghazout, an important Moroccan tourist center next to a fishing village of Berber origin, you can breathe a

.

There

"There are always waves," say the locals.

But the real thing, without

for Instagram.

There is no trace of

.

Girls from four to 16 years old chat animatedly among themselves.

They look at each other, jump, hug and smile.

They receive classes from

(Casablanca, Morocco, October 21, 1982), their great teacher and mentor.

A woman who inspires them.

Zineb Tebbaï, surfer and creator of the first 'bodyboard' school in Morocco. Edu Bartolomé

The sea moves strong and the wind blows with encouragement.

It is not a particularly beautiful coast, but the

.

The same one that promotes this sport that connects so deeply with the environment.

"On the table you feel a lot of

," the coach instructs before her attentive audience.

Her daughter, barely a baby, hangs around her and moves like a fish in the water, riding the waves on her mini board.

Tebbaï began with a similar girl.

"At the beginning I started with a short one of hers and it was very difficult for me to move with her. There was no transportation for her to go to the beach," she recalls.

Sometimes he would walk over an hour from his house just to catch a few waves.

"At 14, my brother offered me a bodyboard

it was

."

So much so that her job today is to transmit the values ​​of the sport that has made her so happy.

HOW THE SCHOOL WAS FOUNDED

Moroccan girls and teenagers learning to surf at the hands of Rip Curl and Zineb Tebbaï. Edu Bartolomé

Married to the champion Adnane Benslimane, together they created the Morocco Bodyboard Academy in 2014,

in

in Morocco.

initiations

to children from poor neighborhoods and orphanages," she says.

Unlike surfing,

.

The edges are the ones that are fixed to the wall of the wave, next to the fin rudder action.

The table is made of a foam rubber that varies according to its density and quality.

"We understood that it was more accessible than surfing and a way to escape from drugs and crime in the popular sphere", explains the instructor.

Women's Beach Day, the day dedicated to women and surfing on Anza beach. Edu Bartolomé

The tandem wanted to raise awareness about the

through social action.

schools were starting up all over the world

, we thought Morocco needed it too."

Most of her students are girls from popular neighborhoods.

The passion for this brave sea unites them.

"In Casablanca or Agadir the mind is much more open than in the rest of the country. Seeing a woman who trains or teaches surfing is completely normal and reassuring for her parents, but it is true that few women give surf lessons in Morocco. The majority are men", admits Tebbaï.

WOMEN'S DAY

The young winners of the relay on Anza beach, showing off their diplomas. Edu Bartolomé

That is why Marie-Pascale Delanne, communication director of the Australian brand Rip Curl, specialized in surfing, contacted her to organize her Women's Beach Day.

"It is an action that we have been preparing for a long time to help local girls to be able to surf.

to be able to dedicate themselves to this sport professionally but, thanks to Zineb and his school, we plant in them a concern to make them more fighters. The small steps are essential," he says.

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Because, for the coach, every day belongs to the woman.

"Shouldn't we always celebrate daughters, sisters and mothers? Without them, we would not even have been born. The Moroccan woman in particular, who has not learned to take care of herself before others. She fights against ancestral beliefs and traditions that

not correspond to our time".

A young Moroccan board in hand surfs with her hijab covering her head. Edu Bartolomé

He insists that they simply enjoy the ocean and feel a fusion with nature.

"My daughter is free to choose what she wants. I want her to be better than me and that she doesn't feel the inequality that I felt. That's why she taught her to assert herself", she smiles as she caresses

.

She sees hope even if there is a world left to do.

"I work and I will work to provide a place for women in the world of surfing here in Morocco. The situation is changing and more and more girls are interested, although it is difficult to

: they are still locked up."

With his relay games exchanging boards and his tricks to surf any wave, as it happens in life out of the water, he will continue to encourage them to achieve their dreams.

"I

and tell them, whatever their age, it's never too late to get moving."

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