Erin “Worm” Ashley’s has a big dream: raise awareness about the importance of early breast cancer detection by partnering with The Keep A Breast Foundation and throwing a good, old fashioned style surf contest with the best women longboarders in the world at First Point, Malibu, California.
Worm, professional logger and aloha gladiator, has a truly unique vision that run counter to the high-pressure, stress-inducing, modern surf contest rules. She believes (and proves) that rewarding surfers for skillfully sharing waves is the perfect recipe for celebration and revelry. Worm’s states, “Share in the good times, thow[ing] down zero bad vibes...that’s what I’m trying to maximize”.
“We haven’t gone so far as to call it a contest. We’re more hanging out, having a good surf. One of the things we miss is...sharing a wave together...it takes a lot of the contest out of contest. Showcasing women’s longboarding...is an epic thing. But to be able to do it for an incredibly rad cause is more important.”
“My big picture at the beginning had nothing to do with the the surfing aspect...I wanted Keep A Breast to be a part of it. Shaney Jo [Darden, Co-Founder, Keep A Breast] is this amazingly compassionate human being. I wanted to be more actively good as a human as less passively good”
Women's surfing has a long-standing, ardent history with The Keep A Breast Foundation according to co-founder, Shaney Jo Darden, going back more than fifteen years. So it was not by change that Worm’s dream concept fit flawlessly with Keep A Breast’s inspired, remarkable time-honored activism focused on the benefits of regular breast exams and early detection.