World Tour: Paige Hareb fights for sponsor

Paige Hareb & Hayley Holt during televised boxing event

Team Updates

The only Kiwi on tour seeking to raise $30K to compete on all tour stops

Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 13 November, 2012 : - - Dream Tour surfer Paige Hareb will need to self-fund her world title campaign from anticipated winnings if she cannot find the remaining $30,000 needed to compete next year. It costs the 22-year-old about $60,000 to travel and compete, about half of which is funded by her sponsors DHL, Subaru, Debit Success and Mt Woodgee.

To raise the remaining $30,000 Hareb joined website Sportfunder in the hope the public would support her world title dreams. So far $8155 has been donated through the site, leaving her with a $21,845 shortfall. "It's enough to do the Australasian leg of tour," she said. "I'd pay for it [the rest of the tour] out of my winnings so the better results I get the more money I'll have."

Hareb has already reduced her costs by going without a coach. "I don't have a coach now to save money. It was hard to pay for them to go around the world." The online funding project closes next Tuesday and Hareb is hoping a few more people get behind her. Yesterday Phillippa Robertson, of Publishing World Limited, donated $3000 through the site.

"I guess it was going pretty slow and then I woke up this morning and saw Taranaki Showcase had put in $3000," Hareb said yesterday. "It was a nice little surprise." Robertson, who has never met Hareb and only just moved to the province, said she donated the money to help fund the young surfer's dreams. "Someone needed to step up and help out," she said. "It's a big mission."

Creator of Sportfunder Craig Williamson said the website gave people the chance to donate or pledge money. "Most sites only have pledges, so if the total isn't reached they don't have to pay," he said. "Only a couple of people have pledged money so most of it has been donated and goes straight to Paige." Hareb said she had also applied for funding from High Performance Sport New Zealand. "I'm allowed to apply for it but I haven't heard back from them yet," Hareb said