The Italian Surf Team’s New Coach Is: Adriano De Souza! 

Pasta. Wine. Hand gestures. Surfing? 

Yes, maybe surfing. Italy is seeking to add it to the list of things people think of when they consider the country, as the national surfing federation recently recruited the semi-retired 2015 WSL champ and kindling to the Brazilian storm, Adriano de Souza.

After Italy’s top surfer Leo Fioravanti finished =9th in the Tokyo Olympics, the brass isn’t sitting back just hoping for better results. They’re making moves for Olympic medals and the generous cash flow that comes with them.

Adriano’s coaching arrangement was formally made public when he showed up in El Salvador last month with Team Italy at the ISA World Juniors. He had the title “assistant coach.” 

“It’s a wonderful opportunity for me to be involved in this project and learn from the other coaches as well,” said de Souza. 

“I had been doing some personal coaching for athletes from Italy and the federation approached me to ask if I could coach the full team,” de Souza added. “It’s been a pleasure and I hope I can offer some good advice to the kids.”

While a former CT star getting recruited to coach a national team is not unprecedented, Adriano is by far the highest-profile athlete to assume such a role, especially in the Olympic era. 

Team Australia was coached by Bede Durbidge for four years during the run to Tokyo 2020. Dane Gadauskas coached Team Norway at the ISA Juniors in 2015. Brett Simpson coaches for Team USA. And don’t forget that Peter ‘PT’ Townsend spent years laying the initial foundation as coach for China’s national surfing team.

In the age of Olympic surfing, many national surfing federations that once barely scraped by are suddenly finding their pockets flush with cash. This infusion of capital stems from various sources depending on the country, but funding typically comes from a combination of national Olympic committees, government programs, and/or the private sector. It’s all part of the Olympic domino effect.

Now A-list surfers are within reach of national federations to hire, and there are many more opportunities to make a stable living from surf coaching. 

Unlike an athlete joining a new nation, which requires citizenship and a formal application to the ISA, coaching for a national team has no limitations. A team can hire any coach regardless of their nationality.

As far as Adriano’s contract with the Italian national federation, both parties declined to disclose the details, but according to Chairman Luciano Serafica of the Italian Waterski and Wakeboard Federation*, Adriano will be paid what a “first-level coach can earn for his valued work.”

“We were really satisfied with our coaching department, but we were thinking about a way to spice things up, pursuing a path that could help all our athletes, including Leo, to better perform at a high level,” Serafica explained.

According to Serafica they “have the full intention to keep [the relationship] running through the years” and hope that de Souza attends “all major events when needed including ISA, WSL and special trainings.”

There is no set agreement yet between the two parties that Adriano would coach the Italians if an athlete were to achieve an Olympic berth, but de Souza insists that “if they need [him] to be there, [he’ll] accept.”

Meanwhile, Leo Fioravanti gave the hire his oh-so-important stamp of approval. 

“[Adriano] can make this new generation of Italian surfers strong and our nation will have a future in competitive surfing,” Fioravanti said. “He has had one of the best careers in the world and knows so much about surfing, so it will be interesting to see if he is able to pass on the knowledge he has to the new generation.”

De Souza joins the team at a time when Italy has gained another Olympic hopeful, Jesse Mendes, who officially swapped his native Brazilian flag for the tricolors of Italy. 

Mendes, whose father has Italian roots, started the application process of becoming an Italian citizen back in 2009. However, his citizenship wasn’t finalized until 2019 when the Tokyo 2020 Olympic qualification process was already wrapping up. 

“When I first applied for citizenship, the Olympics weren’t even a dream for any surfer,” said Mendes. “When I got citizenship I contacted the Italian federation and they showed a bunch of support and made the process fast.”

“Leo and I have a great relationship,” added Mendes. “When I was thinking about changing nations I talked to Leo and he was super frothed. That motivated me even more. Leo is the main guy in Italy and he’s always going to be, so it’s cool to have his support.”

And as far as adding de Souza to the Italian coaching staff, Mendes is high on the move. “Who is else a better competitor than Adriano in the history of surfing?” he said.

With Mendes joining Fioravanti on team Italy, de Souza will have two fairly realistic opportunities to aid in guiding Italian surfers to Paris 2024.

The ISA recently published the qualification process for surfing’s second Olympic appearance. The rule that limits two surfers per gender per country is still largely intact (except for a new caveat that allows the 2022 World Surfing Games men and women team ranking leaders to add a potential third athlete). Therefore, the Italians will have multiple shots on the 2023 WSL CT or at the 2023/24 World Surfing Games to book their tickets to Tahiti. 

It’s also worth mentioning that Paris 2024 will feature 8 more surfers than we saw in Tokyo. The additional 4 men and 4 women (a total of 24 for each gender) will open the door even more for a nation like Italy to slip into a qualification spot.

Not satisfied with playing second fiddle to the traditional surfing powerhouse nations, Serfica holds lofty ambitions after the new improvements to his squad.

“We want to play a major role in the surfing,” said Serafica. “Leo put us on the map as Italy and now it’s up to us to help him, the future generation, and all the community to grow stronger. We really want to be in the Olympics.”

*The Italian National Olympic Committee granted the Waterski and Wakeboard Federation authority of surfing back in 2017.