3 Time World Champ Ben Player
After catching up with Chilean Cata last week we stay in Australia but head down to Sydney to catch up with the phenomenon that is Ben Player.
Ben's career has spanned a lifetime racking up 3 world titles and a lot of great contest stats along the way including accolades such as Riptide Peer poll winner twice and two time world bodyboarder of the year.
In 2004 Ben and two friends used a lot of passion and hunger, wanting to portray and present Bodyboarding in a way that they felt just wasn't being achieved at that time, bodyboarders showcasing bodyboarders and so "Movement Magazine" was born....
Ben editor in chief and just as passionate now as he was all those years ago but with a few more added to the team (rumour has it they are after a junior online editor PM the guys to impress and apply, Hey Ben that's my hat in the ring, maybe we could collaborate sometime soon) 😉
With other accomplishments under his belt such as the movie, "Ben Player Project"and the Bodyboard documentary for want of a better description "Far North", which changed the usual bodyboard movie format and offered up some spectacular angles, emotions and changed the way a lot of us wanted to watch bodyboarding movies going forward.
Add to this Ben's signature line of NMD boards which I personally have been riding for that many years I can't remember(until my recent switch to custom brand MILK BODYBOARDS)
Like so many other riders we loved the innovation of the Player boards and the fact that you really believed if you rode Bens signature boards you could ride with the same style and lines like Ben could.
In Ben's own words......
I am now in my Late 30’s and I am from Sydney Australia, I grew up there and still live there now.
I started Body boarding when I was 10 years old.
All my friends were doing it, and my brother did it as well, I loved it right from the start and haven’t stopped.
My childhood heroes were Mike Stewart always and then around my mid teens I started looking up to Guilhereme Tamega a lot.
I always thought it was a pretty good balance of idols, Mike’s style is smooth, calm and collected, where as Guilherme’s is radical and aggressive.
My local break was Whale Beach, it is near my home town.
I love North Point in Western Australia, and Black Rock on the East Coast.
If you asked me my favourite break in the world thou? I love a lot of places, but the convenience of Pipeline makes it my favourite.
My very first board was a Mach 7-7 and we had a good crew growing up in Avalon. Toby (my brother), Anton Miller, Dan Single, Dan Prideaux, Sebastian Hartog, Tully Beevor, Crispin Hughes, Tate Martin, Nick Williamson, Adam Crowely, Chris Sweepman, Mark Staplefelt, Andrew Hurton, Ian Harberson and Dean Fergus to name a few.
I always loved competing but I haven’t competed in years , I Managed to win 3 World titles though which is nice.
I ride for NMD Boards, Churchill Swim Fins and Bodyboard King.
I don’t really listen to any music pre surf but I do have a lasting memory of having fun with mates and being silly like all kids should do. "
Ben thanks for catching up with us, it is always great to share a few words from some of the long standing pros in our industry that so many young frothers and adults alike look up to.
Thanks for your contribution to our sport over the years and I'm sure everyone agrees, we look forward to seeing what you come up with next, yewwww......
Photo credits include:
Heydon Bunting
Alex Perez
Joshua Tabone
Sacha Specker
Yago Passos
Jesus de Leon
Steve Jones
JerseyMob
Ben Player
Next week we head back to Europe where we catch up with Portugals Female Charger, who was recently crowned as European under 18 champion, Filipa Broeiro.
We had the privilege of watching Filipa take out a leg of the Ereceira comp back in may on our trip to Portugal and have no doubt that she has a great contest career ahead of her.
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VAN LIFE PRODUCTIONS
