Manly Alysse Cooper cuts back on rugby to pursue surfing dream
Alysse Cooper loves surfing, rugby and touch. But something has to give if she is to make the elite ranks.
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She’s a young athlete who has been going from the surf and onto the rugby pitch for years.
But now surfer Alysse Cooper will concentrate most of her efforts on a plan to be on the World Surf League women’s tour within the next four years.
Cooper is one of the rising stars of the sport competing at Maroubra when the Carve Pro kicks off from January 29.
The 20-year-old started the year with an event in China but was an early victim of the conditions bowing out in the first round.
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She is hoping to make a better impression at Maroubra which is the opening leg of the 2020 Australian World Surf League (WSL) Qualifying Series.
“Maroubra will be important to me. It’s a warm-up to get the feet in the wax after the Chrissy break,” Cooper said.
“I am going to have to get the head back into competition mode.
“The event in China was a bit of an eye opener. It showed I probably should have got back into training a little earlier.”
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Cooper last year finished 69th on the world qualifying series with her first aim this year to improve her ranking to be eligible to contest higher ranking events.
“The goal for this year is to qualify into the top 48 range so I can get into prime event,” she said.
Working pastime in childcare, Cooper started surfing at age seven but is also a keen touch football and sevens player.
“I used to play touch footy at a representative level at Manly Warringah and sevens for Manly at the Mermaid and Marlin club.
“I have to cut back on the rugby.
“Surf is what I would prefer to pursue but rugby gives me some balance. It’s really nice to have the team sport aspect.”
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The four-day Carve Pro is a QS 1000 rated event and is one of three stops on the Vissla NSW Pro Surf Series.
“The caliber of surfing at the Carve Pro has always been incredibly high and the local surfers who have competed over the years have always been met with a giant amount of fanfare,” said Surfing NSW CEO Luke Madden.
“Locals like Monty Tait, Blake Thornton, Max McGuigan and Jackson Giles have all laid the foundation for Maroubra surfers like Koda Killorn, Tye Koolis, Jake Feher and Mateus Bersot to be able to compete and we think a lot of that strength has come off the back of this event.”