Manny's tide hustle

Ten years ago Burleigh was just a stepping stone to Bali – another wave on a young Argentine surfer’s tour of bucket-list breaks. But when Manny first set foot on a Gold Coast beach he felt a pull stronger than the tide.

“I was on a working holiday with a friend,” he recalls. “We didn’t know anything about Australia – we just wanted to make some money and then go to Bali and surf. But I got here and thought, wow, this is the best place to be. And that’s how my Australian story started.”

Manny knows a good beach when he sees one. They were the family business back in Argentina. He grew up in the country's surf capital, Mar del Plata, where his grandparents held the concession to operate several beaches with amenities such as umbrellas, chairs, and food service.

Every summer he’d be on the sand, setting up equipment or working in beachfront restaurants. When work was done he’d grab a bodyboard or surfboard and bob in the Atlantic.

“I was always passionate about sports, especially football and surfing,” he says. “I’d watch World Cups and World Surf League contests and in the back of my mind I’d be thinking, maybe one day I’ll end up working somewhere like that.”

He earned a degree in business administration and management at the National University of Mar del Plata, then landed a job as a business and digital marketing analyst – a career that left room for regular surf trips. It was on one of those trips, chasing reef breaks in Fiji, that he struck up a conversation with an Australian surfer, Brad Dorahy, who had worked at Bond University.

“I told him, I have to go back to Australia. I’m thinking of doing a master’s – what unis should I consider?”

Manny would go on to enrol in Bond’s Master of Sport Management (Professional) program, drawn in part by the university’s ties to the WSL.

“I told Brad, as soon as I get to Bond, we’re going surfing.”

Then COVID-19 hit.

Although the pandemic prevented him from developing the in-person relationships that are a hallmark of the Bond experience, Manny is making up for lost time.

“I keep connected with the professors in the business faculty, especially those involved in sport,” he says. “I go surfing with (Associate Professor) Danny O’Brien and catch up with (Senior Teaching Fellow) Karin Hanna. I play football at Bond, do yoga, use the pool – it’s a great community.”

This year, that community helped propel Manny into his dream job. His first assignment: the Bonsoy Gold Coast Pro at Snapper Rocks. But days into his appointment, Cyclone Alfred tore into the coast, damaging the Snapper ‘superbank’ and forcing organisers to relocate the event to Burleigh Heads.

“Relocating the event was a huge challenge because we pretty much had to start from scratch,” he says. “They could tell me to set up an event on the moon and I’d still try to do it. But to have it here at Burleigh – it’s just a naturally great place for a surfing event. I’d run events at Burleigh before, so I knew the terrain. And we were lucky with the waves.”

During the event he handled all logistics and operations, working with venue managers, sponsors and contractors to ensure everything ran smoothly. That included managing budgets, timelines and safety plans, and quickly solving any problems that arose.

Between his duties, he caught glimpses of Filipe Toledo and Bettylou Sakura Johnson carving their way to victory.

Manny’s next event was a stop on the Challenger Series in Newcastle where up-and-coming surfers battled for a coveted spot on the elite WSL Championship Tour. Then it’s off to Bells Beach for a longboard competition. And before this year is out he’ll be working at the Lexus WSL Finals at Cloudbreak in Fiji where he first heard of a place called Bond University. 

“That will be pretty cool,” he says. “Back to where it all began.”