Inside the European SUP League: An In-Depth Conversation with Javier Cantoral

Hola Javier, could you introduce yourself and tell us a bit about your professional and sporting background?

Of course Mathieu. I am Javier Cantoral, a computer engineering graduate, and I founded a specialized technology consultancy more than 24 years ago. Since two years ago, we have been part of a European technology group with more than 9 locations, mainly in Central Europe (Convotis group), where we are currently based in Iberia, leading disruptive technologies such as artificial intelligence and digital transformation. I also work as an associate professor at Miguel Hernández University of Elche. One of my main hobbies is enjoying outdoor sports, ideally with my family.

European SUP League’s co-founder Javier Cantoral

At 55, I have practiced many sports, some since childhood, such as Shotokan karate, which I still practice regularly (I am 3rd DAN). Since my children discovered SUP through the Parres Sports Club, we have been deeply involved in this sport, both recreationally and competitively.

In competition, my goal is less about performance and more about continuing to enjoy SUP and growing it together with my family and club. I have taken part in local races like the Mediterranean SUP Circuit, as well as international events such as Race Interlaken in Switzerland, the APP event at Canary Wharf in London, and my children’s first World Championship in 2002 in Gdynia, Poland. What stands out most is the strong sense of community, camaraderie, and shared desire to grow the sport. For me, it is a privilege to enjoy SUP with my family and club mates, and to share it with the people I love most.

You are also the father of two great champions, one of them, Sergio, the current ICF Sprint World Champion. Can it be said that SUP race is a true family story for the Cantoral family?

Obviously I could not be more proud of them, what can I say about my children. From a very young age they have practiced many sports with me, with a single rule: to enjoy, and in SUP, even better when you can share it together. I cannot deny that we are very competitive and always give everything; that competitive streak they carry by default, and we are not satisfied with just participating—we fight until the end when we can. I think the best thing in competition is to give everything you have, regardless of the result.

But beyond a “Cantoral saga” in SUP, the most important question is the other way around: what does SUP give to the Cantoral family? It gives us discipline, a culture of effort, daily small goals, and the opportunity to travel, share, and meet people in a natural environment like the sea. That is what really matters.

If all of this could be bottled as an essence, it would be something worth sharing as ambassadors in other places and sports. I keep that essence: the respect, community, and passion that this sport transmits.

The Cantoral Saga: Sergio, Javier and Ruben

You are one of the co-founders of the European SUP League. How did you end up involved in this adventure and what motivated you to be part of this project?

Since Dani (ed. note: Daniel Parres) presented it to me, his vision and the challenge that SUP Race has in itself to continue evolving and growing hooked me completely. Obviously that vision and that passion for SUP, but above all the gratitude and generosity that Dani transmits for this sport, is exemplary, and it is not only me saying it; I think everyone who knows him closely or who has had the experience of participating in one of the events he has organized over these years can recognize a common characteristic he conveys: the passion he dedicates to this sport, and his personal crusade to take it where it deserves to be, giving it maximum visibility and relevance, which is and should be the main challenge for the entire SUP community.

And of course, from the starting point we find ourselves in, there is so much to do, to grow, and to professionalize in this sport (clear rules, homogeneity of races, event standards, rankings by categories, and a long etc.), that one cannot remain indifferent waiting for it to solve itself. Obviously, the challenge was, and still is, very complex, and one of our first premises was that it could not remain a personal or individual initiative, but rather a project accompanied by a multidisciplinary team, and above all with federative support. And as soon as that minimum support was achieved, we launched into the adventure.

Daniel Parres

Looking back, what balance do you make of the first season of the European SUP League last year?

Well, I have to admit, and we made it public, that it was a rushed season in which, on our side—and especially Dani, with all his accumulated experience over the years as technical director—launching the league in 2025 was very premature. However, the European Surfing Federation asked us to start, whether we were ready or not, instead of our initial plan to set up and organize everything during 2025 and launch the circuit in 2026.

But we took the step forward, and the truth is that it has served us to check many things and to get to know all the complexities that a project of this kind entails. We knew many things would need improvement, Dani said it at the official presentation we did at the launch of the ESL, it was a year of learning for everyone, and we were not wrong, like all business projects, the strategy of launching products that evolve and iterate (agile models, incremental development, minimum viable products, etc., which I am very used to in the launch of technological solutions) is the right strategy.

Looking back, it has been very useful for us; it has been a real test of which things you think will work in theory (such as the leader’s yellow jersey, or races bringing together Open, U19, and Masters categories), which are well thought out, and then, when you put them into practice, you see reality. All of this has helped us better focus 2026, with the clear objective of consolidating a way of competing at European level in SUP racing that allows all participants to enjoy the league, improve, and, above all, give it maximum visibility. There are things we will not repeat, others that will certainly be improved, and others that will be new, all with the same objective from the beginning: helping this exciting sport take another step forward in its professionalization.

Men’s Tech Race podium – 2025 European SUP League Stop #2 in Melilla

Could you present the team behind the European SUP League and briefly explain the role of each one?

As I have mentioned, it was a premise for Dani to have a multidisciplinary team that would complement each other to the maximum. Obviously, it was born from the strategic vision and clear need for the sport that Dani had identified, as I said before, and which without a doubt has always been accompanied by his wife Sonia Esteve, who over all these years has supported both the Club Deportivo Parres and his events, always contributing her great vision in the area of marketing, impact and image, as well as leading the sustainability part and the inclusive and social impact character of the ESL.

My contribution is more related to business architecture vision, strategic alliances, and everything that involves procedures, and if possible supported by technology, which always helps us a lot. But the challenge is so big that we have been adding key collaborators who share the same concerns as us, such as Adolfo Recio “Fofi” and Martin Muller from the Benalmádena Club, contributing the opening event of last year’s ESL edition, and who continue supporting us in logistics, contacts, and providing resources that can be very useful.

Others have been incorporated to lead key areas, such as communication and marketing direction, currently led by Juan José Fernández, director of the production company MTH Visual Sport, which has given us maximum media coverage, especially on television channels such as RTVE, Rakuten TV, Surf Channel, etc., and also coordinating with other specialized media in the SUP world, such as your magazine TotalSUP, and other media with which we are collaborating.

Daily highlights by MTH Visual Sport, presented by Mathieu Astier

And finally, others have joined to strengthen, if possible even more, the alliance and coordination with events and European clubs, such as the organizer of the Big Paddle Challenge event in Lake Zurich, Florian Gander, founder of SUPkultur and co-founder of the Swiss Stand-Up Paddle Association, together with Eusebio Fernández, with extensive business experience, specialist in automation and robotics. There is a great team with clear functions and responsibilities that allows us to face upcoming challenges with maximum guarantees. But as is logical, we are open to more collaborators so that this continues growing, open to adding forces if they share the vision and the same objective, since we strongly believe that creating alliances and strategic collaborators is part of the path ahead, and we have an alliance and ambassador plan that we would like to continue filling.

From your point of view, what gives credibility to this team and the European SUP League project? We think of profiles such as club owners, coaches, or parents of athletes.

From my point of view, the biggest difference is that there is a team behind it, not only with a lot of experience and many years organizing events and developing from the base, as is well known through Club Deportivo Parres and Daniel Parres at the head, but we have also managed to complement it with a team that has a clear roadmap, ambitious, with very clear strategic elements of professionalization in every part of the process of a competition of this level.

And always with the intention of helping SUP Race, at least at continental level, to strengthen from the base, with rules, protocols, scoring systems, rankings that are clear, covering not only the elite but also the future youth categories and seniors, allowing in the end a homologated circuit, with high-level competition conditions, and always with the goal that it can be enjoyed and consumed not only by specialized media but also by general media.

All this requires very established lines of action that give the greatest projection and professionalization to SUP competition. And although it may sound arrogant, we have it defined and delimited. What we have called a “360º circuit of events”, which allows athletes, organizers, clubs, judges, brands, sponsors, and of course spectators, to enjoy this growing competitive sport, but which needs to be shown to the world as what it is.

I think there are many isolated initiatives from different sides, and our intention is to contribute to the evolution of this sport. There will surely be many challenges and difficulties along the way, but those of us who are here, and those who accompany us, are clear that there is no turning back, for the good of the sport and future athletes, and the entire ecosystem around it, and we will continue following our roadmap. Time will tell how far we get and how it evolves, but we are clear that this path had to be taken and we have taken the responsibility to carry it out.

Compared to what already exists in the international SUP scene, what would you say are the true differentiating elements of the European SUP League?

A completely differentiating factor is having the backing of the European Surfing Federation, which allows us to offer any international competitor an officially homologated competition with international character, obtaining an official continental ranking certification for all athletes who compete in this league, which is something totally differentiating.

If you also add the ability to organize and recognize not only Open, Sub16, Sub18, Masters and Grand Masters categories, but also other non-official categories, it gives greater inclusivity. The standardization of different competition modalities, the minimum standards for races, as well as minimum prize money for Elite categories, make it possible for any athlete to participate under the best conditions in a league of this kind today.

And we do not stop there; we aim for maximum exposure, with the highest quality and the strongest media team available on the market. At least we are working with the best media resources we have to give visibility to the sport, the athletes, and the brands that represent them.

All this would not be possible without cooperation from organizers, national federations, and the European federation with its official judges.

The professionalization of SUP racing is a key differentiator in our league, and giving it maximum visibility and impact has no other objective than to attract brands and sponsors that can give the sport the push it deserves and take it to the next level, toward visibility in mainstream media and television.

Could you present the different stages of the 2026 European SUP League circuit with a short sentence for each and explain why they were chosen?

Well, the stages of the 2026 circuit were very clearly designed so that athletes and clubs could optimize logistics, and on our side also help organizers by concentrating the season into three mini-stages.

The first one obviously opens with the 4th edition of the World SUP Festival Costa Blanca, which is a major starting point, followed by the beautiful location of Taranto with the Lido Gandoli SUP Race. This mini-stage is considered the spring start; we begin to see how athletes measure themselves, and therefore we wanted to focus it on them. We will have talks during the WSF event so that athletes understand and see how role models in the sport take care of and project their personal brand, giving them insights and advice for future leaders of the sport. We consider it very important that athletes who aim to professionalize understand how to work on their professional image.

The second stage is at the start of the summer, right in the middle of the calendar, starting the lake season, with two events in central Europe, with the Big Paddle Festival in Zurich, Switzerland and the Odra SUP Cup in Poland. For this mini-stage, we chose the less hot regions of the circuit to facilitate both athletes and proximity between races. In this stage, we also have the additional objective of complementing the Zurich event with talks or presentations on how major SUP clubs are organized, how they set training calendars, and how they support both future talents and recreational paddlers as well as families. Describing this ecosystem and discussing how to continue evolving and supporting emerging clubs is a clear example of contributing and adding value to the community.

The third and final mini-stage closes with events located in southern Europe, such as the event in Huelva, and the final in the beautiful and welcoming Sesimbra in Portugal, which will determine the overall ranking of the league. This final stage, already entering autumn, will conclude with very exciting races, and to close the year we would like to open a debate on the future of SUP, a discussion day that we hope will bring together different agents of the SUP community to share ideas and ways to improve the future of our beloved sport.

We also see that you are making big efforts to attract brands from outside the SUP industry as sponsors or partners. What kind of proposal do you offer them and what opportunities do they find in the European SUP League?

For us, this is a fundamental part of our strategic plan, launching initiatives that allow us to bring brands and potential sponsors closer to the SUP world from outside the sport.

For this, we launched an initiative as a pilot project, organizing technology and networking sessions with my company, alongside a competition day, in this case during the 2025 World SUP Festival on the long-distance race between Tabarca Island and the beaches of Santa Pola. They were able to watch the race from a yacht and enjoy the beautiful images of this unique race.

It was a great success, as we published in specialized media (LinkedIn news), and we managed to attract entrepreneurs and executives from multinational companies of different sectors such as Airbus, Bip & Drive, Energy Sistem, and W2M.

Post-event business networking at the 2025 World SUP Festival

Any initiative that gives greater visibility and awareness outside the usual SUP environment is a constant effort for us, and something that will eventually allow us to find companies willing to put their brand and associate it with these types of events and circuits.

There is great potential in the fan base, the athletes, and the image that this sport transmits, and it is the responsibility of all of us to show this potential to brands and companies that may become interested in this type of competition.

We know there is still a long way to go in terms of professionalization, consolidation of the circuit, and visibility of the competition and its athletes, but it is a fundamental step to create bridges between our sport and potential brands that will be needed for this sport to continue growing.

The first stage will be practically at your home and is a key event in the ESL circuit. Can you give us a preview and make us excited about what is coming?

Well, it is already upon us, and as always we know that the World SUP Festival never disappoints, both in terms of competition and the different activities organized by the Club Deportivo Parres.

And of course, in this second edition of the league, we will also have a technology and networking day for entrepreneurs, who will share the Saturday, where they will be able to experience the latest AI agents and technology projects, while we also give them a bit of friendly envy about how well we organize and enjoy SUP lovers.

Alongside this, we expect a talk on the professionalization of the athlete’s personal brand, and very soon a very interesting guest will be announced.

All of this will be accompanied by a real festive SUP atmosphere, with brand booths, local businesses, and a concert on Sunday.

For more information / registration:
https://worldsupfestival.com/
www.europeansupleague.com
www.youtube.com/@EUROPEANSUPLEAGUE
www.facebook.com/esl.europesupleague
www.instagram.com/european_sup_league/