August 2022
The Aloha Award announces 2022 award winner and finalists, an increase in prize money and new judges.
The Aloha Award team is honoured to announce the winner, runner-up and 3 finalists for the 2022 award.
Winner: Mike Castro, for providing surf therapy to at-risk youth in Costa Rica through his non-profit organization, Olas y Sonrisas (Waves and Smiles).
Runner up: Julia Van Zyl, for equipping and empowering people with disabilities through sport and mental health programs in South Africa through her non-profit organization, Made for More.
Finalist: Martha Ribeiro for her work with at-risk girls in Brazil through her non-profit organization, Chãozinho, and project "Veleja Meninas", which teaches girls to kite surf, so they can become teachers, have dignity and a source of income.
Finalist: Kris Primacio, who created the International Surf Therapy Organization (ISTO), a global community of surf therapy practitioners and researchers who harness the power of collaboration to further advance the world of surf therapy while facilitating high-impact research on the benefits of surf therapy programs.
Finalist: Daniel Romney for bringing joy and surf stoke to so many individuals on the autism spectrum in the USA and Mexico through his non-profit organisation, Surfing with Nixon.
The Aloha Award team recently announced a substantial increase in prize money for the winner, runner up and finalists. Beginning with the 2022 award, the winner will receive US$10,000 (in addition to an all-expenses paid trip to Namotu Island, Fiji, for one week), the runner up will receive US$5,000, and each of the three finalists will receive US$2,500, in each case in the form of donations to charities or non-profit organizations of their choosing.
“The purpose of the Aloha Award is to recognize individuals in the global surfing community who are ambassadors of the Aloha Spirit–individuals who, in addition to cultivating and sharing their joy of surfing with others, have gone the extra mile to give back to their communities outside the water. This year’s award winners exemplify these ideals, and we are immensely proud to be able to recognize them, support them financially, and bring more attention to the important work they are doing.”
- Mark Hartmann, Aloha Award Founder
We are also pleased to announce the following additions and changes to the judging panel. Current judge, Greg Bertish, will take over from Kyron Rathbone as Chairman of the judging panel. Kris Primacio, founder of ISTO, and pro-surfer, Brisa Hennesey, will join existing judges, Jesse Richman and Chris Dennis (our 2021 winner), on the judging panel. We take this opportunity to thank our outgoing judges, Kyron Rathbone and Mikey February for their invaluable contribution to the Aloha Award judging process.
We would like to extend our wholehearted appreciation to everyone who has contributed to the success of the Aloha Award to date, including our Aloha Award ambassadors, Namotu Island Surf Resort, WSL PURE, Surfline and every person who has taken the time to nominate.
Aloha!