Will competitive surfing in school change sport?
By Derrick DePledge
Advertiser Education Writer
KAHUKU — An ideal day for Taylor Bushman at Sunset Point? Super-glassy conditions, a nice 2- to 4-foot swell, and no crowds charging waves.
The 10th-grader at Kahuku High and Intermediate School knows a perfect day doesn't come very often, but when it does, it's special. The pure joy of surfing, that elusive and momentary connection with the ocean's rhythm, draws Bushman and her friends to the water as much as possible.
The state Board of Education is expected to decide soon whether to sanction surfing as a high-school sport, and while young surfers are stoked, there is also some apprehension about whether more competition will influence the sport's unique culture.
"To some extent, I do think it will change," Bushman said. "But I think it will be good for the surfers at our school. They'll be considered athletes, not surf bums. It takes a lot of practice to do well."
Surfing is ingrained in Hawai'i's history, and the Islands are known worldwide for innovation and choice stops on professional surfing tours. But while the passion for surfing here rivals that for any sport, the intensity is at a different pitch than, for example, high-school football in Texas or high-school basketball in Indiana.
Out in the lineup, there are things more important than winning.
Even some surfers who have fought for years to make surfing a high-school sport don't want to see it become a cutthroat spectacle.
"I know some surfers who say, 'No way, brah, it's not about competition,' " said state Rep. Marcus Oshiro, D-Wahiawa, a longboarder who likes to hit Ala Moana when the Legislature is in session and Hale'iwa when it's not. "It's not about trophies or winning, it's about character."
High-school surfers have been competing in organized contests in Hawai'i for years, and many have traveled to the Mainland to surf in the national school championships. Young surfers have formed their own clubs, or surfed as individuals and not representatives of their schools — even though everyone at the contests knows which schools they attend.
A handful of contests are staged each year by the National Scholastic Surfing Association and the Hawai'i Amateur Surfing Association. If the BOE approves surfing as a high-school sport, schools and the state Department of Education would have to develop guidelines to govern student participation.
The BOE was expected to vote on the issue this month, but the Hawai'i Government Employees Association, which represents school administrators and athletic directors, has asked for more time to review the issue, said BOE member Sherwood Hara. Other labor unions also could have questions.
"We're hoping that sometime before the end of the year, something will get done," Hara said.
The Hawai'i High School Athletic Association is awarding championships this school year in 25 events, including judo and canoe paddling. Young surfers say they just want the same kind of opportunity. Some are also stung that schools on the Mainland are sanctioned for surfing while schools in Hawai'i — a place synonymous with the sport — are not.
Erik Knutson, an 11th-grader who belongs, like Bushman, to Kahuku's Ko'olauloa Surf Club, said surfers should get the same attention from their schools and communities as football or volleyball players.
"You have to focus on winning more instead of being out there laughing with your friends," Knutson said of competitive surfing. "You have to be more aggressive in the water and battle for waves, but you'd be part of a team."
The club's coach, Kahuku science teacher Iris Gonzales, said surfing advocates have had to overcome what she believes are exaggerated claims about equipment costs, insurance liability, surf rage and shark attacks. One state estimate put the costs of sponsoring the sport as high as $2.6 million a season.
"These kids are out there surfing already," Gonzales said during a lunch break in her classroom. "I think we'd probably have a lot more interested students coming out. As an organized sport, I think the kids will have more direction."
The club is thinking about buying T-shirts this year so the students can wear school colors at contests, with the shirts available for sale like gear from other Red Raider teams. "That's a T-shirt that would definitely sell around here," Gonzales said. "There would be more school spirit."
David Cosier, Jr., a school security attendant who coaches the surf team at Kalaheo High School, said he isn't worried that an increase in competition could take away from the soul of the sport. He said more organized contests between schools could provide structure for young surfers to use as a stepping stone to the professional ranks, as in other school sports.
"It's a good question," Cosier said. "But we just want to get some recognition for the kids. You want to go surfing, but you also want to see how you do against other surfers."
Rosie Jaffurs, an eighth-grader on the Kahuku surf club, is partial to Gas Chambers, near Pipeline. She said the only real difference between surfing for fun and in contests is that contests allow only a few surfers a crack at the waves.
"I like to do both," she said. "In contests, there is no one else around, just the ones I'm surfing against."
Reach Derrick DePledge at ddepledge@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8084.
