Youth surfing is already on a year-round schedule.

The 2005-06 season for scholastic and amateur surfers began this month and will run through June. Around 300 surf-ers are expected to participate in the contests.

"There's no substitute for practice," said Jack Shipley, head judge of the Hawai'i Amateur Surfing Association. "And these contests are like practices for the kids who want to eventually enter some of the bigger events and become professionals."

In Hawai'i, there are two major organizations — HASA and the National Scholastic Surfing Association — and surfers are allowed to participate in both.

The HASA season started last week, and will feature one contest per month at various locations around O'ahu.

The NSSA season begins next week and the eight-event schedule features contests on O'ahu, Maui, Kaua'i and the Big Island.

"All the contests here lead up to the nationals," said Bobbi Lee, Hawai'i director of the NSSA. "We wanted to make it a tour so that the kids get a chance to surf on all the islands."

The top performers from the regular season earn invitations to the national championship events in California in June.

Both organizations charge membership fees (ranges from $45 to $65) and per-contest fees (ranges from $25 to $50).

For information on HASA visit hasasurf.org. For information on NSSA, visit nssa.org.