Pro surfer busks her way to the world championships

WHEN Pacha Light’s mum said they couldn’t afford the surfboard she wanted, the nine year old took matters into her own hands — and it paid off.

Surf champ and model Pacha Light, 15, is crowd funding her way to the Junior World Surf Titles in Portugal. Picture: Jerad Williams

WHEN Pacha Light’s mum told her they couldn’t really afford the surfboard she longed for, the nine year old schoolgirl took matters into her own hands.

“I love dancing so I decided that I would go busking to try and earn enough for a board,” says Pacha, who set up with her boom box and an old felt hat on a Gold Coast street in 2011.

The women’s Roxy Pro happened to be running at nearby Snapper Rocks and one passer-by was so blown away by Pacha’s moves she stopped to dance alongside her. It was rising Australian surfing star Laura Enever. “We danced for a while then she left, and I had no idea who she was,” says Pacha, now 15. “Then she came back with one of her back-up comp boards and she signed it and gave it to me. It was so generous of her.”

Surfing star Laura Enever donated one of her back-up comp boards to Pacha Light. Picture: Supplied.

The gesture was the beginning of a dream for today’s Australian of the Day who — after years doggedly learning to surf on Enever’s donated high-performance surfboard — will travel to Portugal in September to compete at the world junior surfing titles. Now 15, Pacha has notched up several victories on the Gold Coast and placed second in the 2015 Australian junior women’s title.

Although she was stoked to qualify for the world titles, Pacha faced a familiar hurdle. “It costs a lot to get there so I started busking again,” she says. “If you want something bad enough, you’ve gotta throw everything at it but I also had some very generous people get behind me as well.”

Indeed Pacha is a big believer in rallying around a cause. An ambassador for the Surfrider Foundation, she was also heavily involved in the campaign to have the southern Gold Coast listed as a World Surfing Reserve. “I truly love the ocean and being in it and I’ll do everything I can to help look after it for the future,” she says.

As for her own future, Pacha dreams of life as a pro surfer. “It’s a long, hard road to the top in this sport but if I dedicate myself to it I have as much chance as anyone of being a world champion,” she says.

And if not there’s always busking.

CommBank has partnered with News Corp Australia to champion the Australian of the Day initiative which celebrates people in our neighbourhoods and communities who really make a difference to how we live and who we are. You can read all their stories at australianoftheday.com.au, where you can also nominate someone you know.