From Online to Offline Surfing: The Role of Social Media in Promoting the Sustainability of the Obibini Girls Surf Club

African-owned sport-for-development initiatives are springing up across Africa, evidence of the aspirations for development they raise among local communities. Surfing clubs are also mushrooming in new spots, yet research has mostly focused on South Africa. A novel perspective from Ghana focuses on the Justice’s Brothers Surf School and the Obibini Girls Surf Club. Through ethnography at the Obibini Girls Surf Club and online content analysis, an examination of the goals, strategies, and impact of the club’s Instagram page reveals how the Obibini Girls Surf Club seeks sustainability and navigates the barriers women face in the Ghanaian surfing scene. Translocal influences shape the page’s posts and the online image of the Obibini Girls Surf Club. A translocal prism uncovers how the page promotes the local surf scene, how it maintains the sustainability of the Obibini Girls Surf Club, and how it challenges prevalent gender imbalances. This success comes at a cost, though. Tourists visiting Justice’s Brothers generate vital income by paying for lessons with its surfing instructors, yet this leaves the female surfers at Obibini Girls without instructors.