Lilias Tebbaï, rising star of Moroccan surfing

At only 18 years old, Lilias Tebbaï is already a nugget of Moroccan surfing. In almost 10 years of surfing, she has recorded several titles. She won 5 times the title of Moroccan junior and open champion and the Gold Medal at the Gymnasiades 2018 Team Morocco. In 2019, she was crowned French champion of the Union Nationale du Sport Scolaire (UNSS).

Thanks to her surfer father, Lilias Tebbaï discovered the waves and the boards at the age of 4 and was introduced to surfing. Coached by her father, she already wanted to compete with other surfers at the age of 9. As girls’ surfing competitions were non-existent in Morocco at the time, she took part in men’s competitions at the beginning. For several years, the young girl only competed against older and more experienced boys. It was a difficult experience, but one that allowed her to sharpen her skills, learn more and evolve.

In 2015, at the age of 13, she competed for the first time in a girls’ competition, notably the Girls’ National Open Championship where she finished in 3rd place. In 2017, she took part in the National Junior Girls Championship where she was crowned Champion. In 2018, at the age of 15, she became double National Open and Junior Champion and won the same year, the first title of the 8th edition of the Agadir Open.

The young surfer also confronts surfers from around the world. In 2018, she took part in the VISSLA Huntington Beach Junior World Championship in California, USA, in the under-18 and under-16 categories. In 2019, she was crowned champion at the French National School Sports Union (UNSS) Championship. Last June, she also participated in the ISA World Championships in El Salvador as part of the qualifications for the Tokyo Olympic Games, where she was ranked 57th out of 123 participants.

Determined to continue her sporting career, Lilias Tebbaï follows intensive daily training sessions in parallel with her scientific studies which she pursues remotely. Today, the young surfer’s ambition is to be in the world’s Top 20 and in the European Top 10 surfers and to win the national title in 2022 and 2023. She is also committed to the promotion of surfing by women in Morocco.