THE RECESSION has put a real squeeze on the sponsorship available to aspiring surfers.

But North Devon's Anthony Rofner, at the age of 39, proves that it is never too late to push your surfing and be rewarded for the dedication.

When he turned his back on football, leaving Weymouth at the age of 25, he looked for a new sporting challenge and was bitten by the surf bug in Bournemouth.

"I realised within a month that I had no future as a surfer in those weak south coast waves," said Rofner.

"I thought of my childhood holidays to Croyde and remembered the power of the waves and moved here without a second thought."

Arriving in 1995, Rofner taught himself to surf and has been improving ever since.

"I love surfing the north coast — give me chunky 4ft onshore and I'm in my element," he said.

"North Devon has produced some amazing surfers. One guy in particular who has inspired and motivated me is Croyde's Ralph Freeman.

"He always seems to have been there at pivotal moments in my surfing career.

"I remember the first time I was faced with a grinding, 6ft low tide, he just appeared next to me and encouraged me to take it on. That was the first time I got barrelled.

"I also really admire guys like Matt Saunders, Rob Broxholme and Josh Witts."

Earlier this summer, while surfing at Combesgate, Rofner was spotted by Chris Martin from global surf giant Animal.

He was looking for under-the-radar core riders to act as free-surfing ambassadors.

After asking around the village, inquiries with Richard Locke at Woolacombe's Shore2Surf led Martin to a very surprised Rofner.

"Chris said he liked my style and offered me a sponsorship deal," he said.

"I still had to send in a CV, but it was my surfing that got me noticed and that's a great feeling.

"I'm not a contest surfer, I just love to surf and be in the water. So to have my surfing recognised and be offered this chance by Animal is amazing.

"I'll be documenting my travels and hopefully inspiring people to do more with their surfing.

"My next trip is down to France in September. I'm hoping to score some decent waves. Then it's off for winter, hitting Sumatra, Bali and Lombock.

"As for the future? I don't have a master plan — yet. I'd like to try tow surfing and take on bigger surf and broaden my horizons. For now, I'm just happy to be able to enjoy my surfing every day."

Follow Rofner's surf journeys at rofner-rofner.blogspot.com and www.myspace.com/544555765.

Sunday sees Surfers Against Sewage hosting the Motivocean Beach Clean and Sports Tour at Croyde, promoting the link between coastal environmental protection and the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

The event offers youth volunteers the chance to get involved with beach clean activities and then go surfing and play beach volleyball as a reward.

The surf lessons will be run by Surf South West, with snacks supplied by the Riverside restaurant from Braunton, and hot tea from Lahloo teas.

Volunteers, aged 16 to 25, can sign up at vinspired.com/motivocean-national-beach-clean-sports-tour.