By Danny Fahy
The surf season has started, and the surf team is beginning to roll. An overflowing classroom of wave riders attended the team kick off meeting, and with stragglers and misfits we have a healthy team of 44 rough and tumble Pirates! We held “tryouts” on Monday, with a majority of the group plus a few extras showing up. Among those added to our team, are four international exchange students who embraced the unique opportunity to surf before school. With a quick lesson from the coaches, the young neo-Californians went to work in the shorebreak eliciting shouts and cheers from all of us as they proceeded to kill it–popping right up, and getting some nice rides!
We mourn the loss of our senior rippers, Myles Freeh, Levi Krull, Tess Endersby, Mikayla Savoie, and Willow Bailey. But their replacements fill their booties and then some! Standout new surfers on Monday were Ashton Evans, Carson Spahr, Sydney Beckett, and Hayden Davis, while Cash Marchant, Andrew Monroe, Brayden Corriea, Ian MacDonald, Ethan Gantenbein, and Dylan DeLlamas return surfing stronger than ever. Yes, it’s shaping up to be a splendid season, folks!
We’re so stoked this year to finally have contests in our home waters! The first contest is scheduled for October 21st at The Rock! Fall is the best time for surf and weather on the Central Coast, so we hope for a sunny day with good, clean surf. Contests start at 8:00 and go until around 3:00. There will be 6-8 other schools there: Santa Barbara, Arroyo Grande, Ventura, and Dos Pueblos among others. We hope the whole school comes out and packs the beach on contest day!
I want to send a special shout out to coaches Josh Beckett and Jeff Jaquay. They have been dedicated to the team since we started. They both lead busy lives with careers and families of their own, and yet they give their time and energy to guide and support our young surfers. They are models of how to build a healthy life around surfing, and our surf program would simply not exist without the work they’ve put in. Give them a “thank you” or fist bump next time you see them.
Finally, last Saturday we had another amazing experience at the Surf Ranch in Lemoore, CA! We volunteered to park cars all morning and were rewarded at noon with wrist bands to get in and watch the world’s best compete in Kelly’s otherworldly artificial wave. Highlights were pictures and close encounters with our favorite pros. Thanks to Kelby, Lauren, Dasha, Hayden, Jesse, Brayden, and Sarah and Mr. Nairne from SLOHS for helping out!
