Los Angeles 147 Bay Street Santa Monica CA 90405

June 14, 2019

Alfred G. Rava The Rava Law Firm 3667 Voltaire Street San Diego, CA 92106

Dear Mr. Rava:

Thank you for your letter dated June 4, 2019, regarding the Super Girl Pro event. We appreciate the concerns you have raised, and would like to take this opportunity to provide you with additional information concerning World Surf League (“WSL”) events, as well as the Super Girl Pro event.

First, the WSL is committed to providing equal opportunity for male and female surfers across our many disciplines. These opportunities manifest in men's and women's combined events (such as the upcoming Oi Rio Pro in Brazil), men's events and women's events. As you can see on our website, WSL events include the WSL Championship Tour (“CT”), Qualifying Series (“QS”), Big Wave Tour, Long Board Tour, Junior’s Tour, and Specialty Events. Like other major sports, each of these tours has both men’s and women’s events. https://www.worldsurfleague.com/events. All of these events offer opportunities to earn cash prizes and points towards ranking for the respective tours.

Second, in terms of fairness, we assure you that neither men nor women are provided unfair advantage against one another because of gender-specific events. Men compete against one another with the same opportunity and conditions afforded them, as do all women. Competitors earn points and are ranked only in their respective gender divisions; there is therefore no disadvantage to either men or women due to the ability to earn points in gender-specific events. For example, any points earned by a female surfer at the Super Girl Pro event will have no bearing on any male surfer’s ranking or qualification for the CT.

Further, the Super Girl Pro is licensed by the WSL as an event on the QS, the development tier for the elite CT. WSL licenses hundreds of qualifying events around the world so that the best surfing talent can qualify for the CT. Due to the challenges of operating a global tour, there are some events that feature both a men’s and women’s division (e.g., Vans US Open of Surfing) as well as women’s only events (e.g., Super Girl Pro) and men’s only events (e.g., Jack’s Surfboards Pro) and each of these events drives participation in the sport. Overall, however, both men and women are given an equal opportunity to compete in WSL qualifying events. The extensive number of qualifying events for both men and women is reflected on our website. https://www.worldsurfleague.com/events/2019/wqs; https://www.worldsurfleague.com/events/2019/mqs.

Finally, the legal authority you cite in your letter is distinguishable from the WSL model. Both Koire v. th Metro Car Wash, 40 Cal. 3d 24 (1985) and Angelucci v Century Supper Club, 41, Cal. 4 160 (2007) involved male patrons who were denied discounts that were offered to females as a “ladies” special. The WSL’s model (which offers both men’s and women’s qualifying events), does not prejudice either female or male surfers, as both have substantial opportunities to earn WSL points and cash prizes. The Super Girl Pro event therefore does not violate California law. See, e.g., Martin v. International Olympic Committee, 740 F.2d 670, 676 (9th Cir. 1984)(affirming the district court’s decision that female track athletes who sought their own event did not demonstrate a fair chance of success under the Unruh Act, which the Court declined to interpret as requiring the creation of separate but equal track events for women).

We hope this is helpful in responding to your inquiry. We would be happy to discuss any further questions. Please feel free to reach out to me directly.

Sincerely,

Sophie Goldschmidt CEO, World Surf League cc: Rick Bratman ([email protected]) John Mullen, Esq. ([email protected]) Michelle Skaggs Lawrence ([email protected]) Hon. Peter Weiss ([email protected]) Ester C. Sanchez ([email protected]) Christopher Rodriguez ([email protected]) Ryan Keim ([email protected])