João Roque Pinho is the new team rider for Semente Surfboards. The young local surfer from Guincho beach has officially joined the Ericeira surfboard brand in this new phase of his promising career.
After trying out Semente’s boards, the 18-year-old athlete felt an evolution in his surfing level that left him stoked, motivated and more confident. On the brand’s side, there was a connection with the surfer’s surfing style and personality, whose focus and work have brought good surfing moments and remarkable results.
João Roque Pinho started surfing in 2015 and is currently one of the new generation of Portuguese surfing talents with a strong rail surfing style and a good repertoire of progressive surfing maneuvers.
He’s the current Portuguese Pro Junior runner-up having won one of the Junior Tour events, a championship dedicated to the best Under-20 junior surfers, in Santa Cruz in 2023. In the same year, he finished in the Top 16 on the MEO League ranking, with his best result being 5th place in Peniche, where he received the Waversby Round special award for the athlete with the best sporting performance in round 3.
João Roque Pinho’s goals are to improve his level of surfing and become a better competitor and the European Pro Junior is one of his current priorities. But he doesn’t hide the fact that he dreams of one day qualifying for the World Surf League Championship Tour. And to make his dreams come true, having a good quiver of boards is essential.
“The boards are very important to me,” said João. “”The first board I made with Semente was magical and, from then on, out of about 15 boards, 13 were magical. There was a big change in my surfing, like a switch. From the moment I started surfing with these boards, my performance in the water took a huge leap forward and my surfing confidence was completely different. For me, having that consistency in terms of boards, which is our main tool, and knowing that I can count on the shaper by having good communication with him is super important. Throughout history, most of the top national surfers have ridden Semente boards and, at some point, they were all “flying”. So, I think it’s a stage in my career that has to be made and I’m very proud to be part of the Semente team,” he concluded.
“We welcome João to join our team,” said Semente. “A year ago, he came to us to make some boards. He loved the result and felt a new lease of life in the way he surfed. We liked his attitude and started making more boards. We tweaked one board after another and felt a strong connection. We love working with him and believe in his future. We appreciate his personality and that’s also very important to us, not just being a good surfer, but also being a good person and having a good vibe. We’re happy that he’s with us and we’ll work together to help him achieve his goals.”
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