The 2010 edition of the World Skin Cancer Foundation's biggest annual fundraising and awareness event will take place at Coconuts on the Beach in Cocoa Beach, Florida, the weekend of October 22 – 24, when Bright House Networks presents The Fifth Annual World Skin Cancer (WSCF) Foundation Slater Brothers Invitational surf contest.
The event is organized and hosted by the WSCF and surfing brothers Sean Slater, Kelly Slater, and Stephen "Skippy" Slater, who annually reunite in their hometown of Cocoa Beach to raise funds and educational awareness about the causes and prevention of skin cancer through what has become one of Central Florida's premier surf contests.
The first four editions of the Slater Brothers Invitational drew thousands of spectators and some of the world's best surfers and top-ranked skateboarders, and this year's event is expected to be the biggest and best to date.
The Slater Brothers Invitational will also feature free and private skin cancer screenings on Saturday, October 23, from 9 a.m. to Noon and Sunday, October 24, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
The screenings will be conducted by an accredited team of medical personnel led by WSCF President and Founding Board Member Jeannie Stein, MD.
The WSCF is dedicated to promoting skin cancer awareness - the fastest-growing type of cancer in the United States – while encouraging everyone to enjoy a sun-safe outdoor lifestyle at events such as the Slater Brothers Invitational.
Along with nine-time ASP World Champion Kelly Slater, who won the event in 2008, a full entry of other world-class surfers is expected to compete in the three-day Slater Brothers Invitational.
Past participants in the first four editions of the contest include CJ and Damien Hobgood, Rob Machado, Benji Weatherly, Taylor Steele, and Shea and Cory Lopez, to name just a few who have participated in support of the skin cancer cause.
In addition to three full days of surfing competition, the Slater Brothers Invitational also features a beachside mini-vert skate ramp and nationally recognized skaters such as Cocoa Beach's Adam Taylor, who is also surfing in the invitational.
Taylor's talented young siblings, Dylan and Lea Taylor, will also participate in the vert-ramp events.
It all gets underway with the official kick-off party for the Bright House Networks World Skin Cancer (WSCF) Foundation Slater Brothers Invitational on Thursday, October 21, at Rusty's in Port Canaveral at 7 p.m.
Longboard and shortboard competitions take place Friday, Saturday, and Sunday at Coconuts on the Beach, with the mini-vert ramp exhibitions also set for all three days of the event.
A 5K beach run/walk has also been added to the 2010 event and takes place Saturday morning at 7:30 a.m. on the beach in front of Coconuts.
Over one million cases of skin cancer are diagnosed every year, and over 10,000 people die from skin cancer annually.
The most important benefit of supporting the World Skin Cancer Foundation and one of its many events is helping the organization's efforts to raise awareness for skin cancer through education, prevention, detection, and informational public signage while supporting sun-safe outdoor recreation.