School Surf Clubs Poised To Ride The Big Waves, Officially

Wednesday - August 22, 2007
By Jack Danilewicz
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Since they were in the seventh grade, Kahuku Surf Club coach Iris Kahaulelio would tell members of the class of 2004 that surfing would be an official school sport by the time they graduated last May.

“I was one year off,” she said. Not that anyone is complaining, least of all Kahaulelio. When the state Board of Education voted unanimously in May 2004 to allow schools to officially field surf teams, it was cause for celebration within the surfing community.


“It was a long battle, and now it’s finally a reality,“said Kahaulelio,who began the Koolauloa Surf Club in 1994 and spearheaded efforts to make surfing an official high school sport in Hawaii.“There are a lot of kids who aren’t interested in traditional sports like basketball or football. This helps to tie them into their school community, and it gives them a chance to be recognized like the other students.”

This is the first year that schools can officially offer competitions (in a club format), although much leg-work lies ahead before that happens. With the BOE approval, the Department of Education then had to establish guidelines to ensure safety. Once details are worked out, prep surfing could find its niche here.

“That was the first goal - being able to use our school name as a club,” said Kahaulelio, whose club has averaged between 20 to 25 members a year since 1994. “The next thing is (for) the OIA (to sanction surfing).

“(Interest) is going to grow and grow,” she predicted.

“It’s kind of historical in a sense,“added Castle High coach Paul Detton. “Hopefully, we can get all of the kinks worked out, and we can make it a full-fledged sport. That’s what we’re working toward. Surfing is my passion, and I’m really amped up about this.”


Castle Surf Club began in 2004-05 after students brought the idea to Detton.“My students used to see me at the beach,“said Detton, who is a city lifeguard in addition to teaching full time at Castle. “But until now, we’ve been a land-based club.”

As part of meeting the DOE guidelines, Detton and assistant coaches Alyson Fink and Matt MacDonaugh had to take a sanctioned surf-coaching class this summer, which was akin to “a mini-life guard course,” he said.

For their part, prospective surfers wishing to compete for their schools must take a Junior Lifeguard course before participating in water-related club activities.

The benefits of competing for a high school surf team are many, the coaches say.As in other sports, they must maintain a satisfactory gpa to take part. “It serves as incentive,” said Kahaulelio. “A kid may want to surf, but they have to do good in school (first), and it gets them into something positive, instead of just hanging out.”

Since 1994, Kahaulelio also has seen 12 of her club members go on to compete professionally.

As a “land-based club"previously, Castle’s Surf Club has revolved around social activities, Fink said: “We took a field trip to the North Shore and visited a Surf Museum one day. We have guest lectures, we talk about the history of surfing ... There is always a lot for us to do. We also do fund-raising and community service like beach cleanups. Most are here to learn about it and to be a part of something that is new and fresh.”

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Nine of Castle’s 25 members have already passed their Junior Lifeguard courses. In time, courses may be offered more often to speed up the eligibility process, Detton said.

Kahaulelio was unsure how many of her members had taken the course, since Kahuku will hold its first meeting in the coming days.

While no events have yet been scheduled, Kahaulelio foresees “six to eight"schools making up an average surf meet with boys and girls divisions in bodyboarding and shortboard and longboard surfing.

“It is definitely a surfing process,” Detton said of organizing competitions. “You start out small, and then you go big.”

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