Neighbor Isle surfers pay price

By Dayton Morinaga
Advertiser Staff Writer

Maui's Tevi Kahaleuahi catches a wave while Kaua'i's Erika Steiner paddles out during the Hawai'i Amateur Surfing Association State Championship at Ala Moana Bowls.They are competing in the menehune division. Photos by Eugene Tanner • The Honolulu Advertiser

Kaua'i shark-attack victim Bethany Hamilton, right, won her first-round heat in the girls division, but lost in the second round.

The Smith brothers — Alex, Travis and Koa — picked fruit from the backyard of their Kilauea home, and sold it on Kaua'i roadsides all year to help raise money for this week's trip to O'ahu.

"When you add up the airfare, the hotel, the extra airline charge for surfboards, and the entry fees, it gets pretty hefty," said their father, Andy Smith.

More than 300 surfers from around the state are participating in the three-day amateur championships. More than 100 are from the Neighbor Islands, and many of them have fund-raising stories similar to the Smiths.

"It's usually the younger kids who have to pay," said Fawn Elder, mother of Hana, Maui, surfer Ola Eleogram. "We have a contest in Hana every year just to help these kids make the trips. We sell food at the contest and we collect entry fees, and it's still not enough. We also have yard sales; we even go door-to-door selling brownies."

In the sponsorship-driven world of surfing, it is quite a dilemma for the Neighbor Island surfers — you can't afford the trip to O'ahu, but you can't afford to miss it, either.

The state championships serve as a qualifier for a national championship event in California later this month. At the national championships, representatives from the various surf companies scout the action and sign the top youth surfers to sponsorship contracts.

If yesterday was any indication, many Neighbor Island surfers are worthy.

"Unfortunately in surfing, it's all about the advertising for the sponsors," Elder said. "In Hana, we get no media attention for the kids, so the only time people take notice is at these big contests."

Her son is one of the fortunate ones.

Eleogram is in his final year as an amateur surfer, and plans to turn professional before the end of the summer. Because of his success at past national events, he has secured a solid sponsorship. His sponsors will pay for his trips this year.

Yesterday, he recorded some of the top scores in the early rounds of the junior men's division, which is considered the premier division in amateur surfing.

"All the top guys from all the islands come out for this, so you have to be at your best," said Eleogram, 18. "And representing Maui is a big thing."

Casey Brown from Kailua, Kona, said he feels the same way about the Big Island. Like Eleogram, Brown had his trip paid for by his sponsors.

However, Brown has been on O'ahu for more than a week because he wanted to enter another contest at Ala Moana last week, and so he could practice for the state championships.

"I'm staying with a friend, but it's still costing my parents and my sponsors a lot of money," said Brown, a junior-to-be at Kealakehe High.

Brown is also riding a fast wave toward a professional career. He scored a perfect 10 in one of his heats yesterday, and will join Eleogram in the final of the junior men's division (ages 15 to 17).

He only wishes more of his friends from Kona could join him.

"I know kids back home who rip and could do super good in this contest, but they don't have the (financial) support to come out here," said Brown, 16. "I would love to see this contest on the Big Island, but it's not, so we have to pay to get here. It's just something we gotta do."

Many of the Neighbor Island parents seem to understand that.

Rick Hurst of Kilauea, Kaua'i, said he is spending more than $2,000 this week so his 10-year-old daughter, Leila, can surf in the state championships.

After she qualified for the national championships yesterday, he may have gained another expense.

"She's been winning a lot of contests on Kaua'i, and she loves the sport, so we're willing to make the sacrifices," Hurst said.

Making it more complicated for all the Hawai'i parents, three separate national championship events will be staged this summer.

The top performers from the state championships will advance to the American Surfing Championships, June 13-17. There is also the National Scholastic Surfing Association Championships, June 18-26, and then the U.S. Surfing Championships, July 23-25.

The first- and second- rounds of the youth surfing divisions were staged yesterday in 1- to 3-foot waves. More divisions will run today, and the finals in all divisions will run tomorrow.

Shark-attack survivor Bethany Hamilton of Kaua'i won her first-round heat in the girls division yesterday, but was then eliminated in the second round.

Reach Dayton Morinaga at dmorinaga@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-8101.