• Support
  • Advertise
  • Locations
  • Contact
Thursday, January 26, 2023
No Result
View All Result
NEWSLETTERS
Dana Point Times
  • Calendar
    • Event Calendar
    • Submit an Event
  • Sections
    • Eye On DP
    • Soapbox
      • Submit A Letter
    • Getting Out
    • DP Living
    • Sports & Outdoors
    • DP Surf
    • San Clemente Times
    • Capistrano Dispatch
  • Digital Edition
  • Best of DP
  • Legals & Classifieds
    • Locals Only Business Directory
    • Classified
    • Submit a Classified
    • Obituaries
    • Announcements
    • Legal & Public Notice Advertising
    • Legal Notices
  • Special Publications
    • A New You
    • Aging Well
    • Best of Dana Point
    • Crib to College
    • Dana Point Trolley Information & Route Map
    • Dolphin Football Preview
    • Festival of Whales Event Guide
    • Go See Do
    • Holiday Happenings & Gift Guide
    • Home Improvement Guide
    • Money Matters
    • Summer Camp Guide
    • The Green Issue
    • Turkey Trot Event Guide
  • DP Guide
  • Real Estate
    • South County Real Estate Guide
    • Real Estate – Who’s Who
  • Calendar
    • Event Calendar
    • Submit an Event
  • Sections
    • Eye On DP
    • Soapbox
      • Submit A Letter
    • Getting Out
    • DP Living
    • Sports & Outdoors
    • DP Surf
    • San Clemente Times
    • Capistrano Dispatch
  • Digital Edition
  • Best of DP
  • Legals & Classifieds
    • Locals Only Business Directory
    • Classified
    • Submit a Classified
    • Obituaries
    • Announcements
    • Legal & Public Notice Advertising
    • Legal Notices
  • Special Publications
    • A New You
    • Aging Well
    • Best of Dana Point
    • Crib to College
    • Dana Point Trolley Information & Route Map
    • Dolphin Football Preview
    • Festival of Whales Event Guide
    • Go See Do
    • Holiday Happenings & Gift Guide
    • Home Improvement Guide
    • Money Matters
    • Summer Camp Guide
    • The Green Issue
    • Turkey Trot Event Guide
  • DP Guide
  • Real Estate
    • South County Real Estate Guide
    • Real Estate – Who’s Who
No Result
View All Result
Dana Point Times
No Result
View All Result

Championship Week Is Here: NSSA Nationals, USA Surfing Championship land on local beaches this week

by Dana Point Times
June 15, 2018 5:00AM
in DP SURF, Surf Headlines
Championship Week Is Here: NSSA Nationals, USA Surfing Championship land on local beaches this week
0
SHARES
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

By Jake Howard
For America’s top amateur surfers, the next week in South Orange County could mean the world. With the National Scholastic Surfing Association (NSSA) and USA Surfing both holding their annual championships in the area, there’s plenty of reasons to fire it up for our local rising stars.

From June 16-18, the NSSA National Interscholastic Championships will take place at Salt Creek. This competition will feature the country’s top middle school, high school and college teams battling it out to determine who really is, in the words of the Beach Boys, true to their school. Shortly thereafter, the NSSA will head up to Huntington Beach for the National Championships for the open, explorer and airshow divisions.

“We have competitors coming from 11 conferences across the nation, Barbados and Puerto Rico. The conferences are: Southwest, Gold Coast, Northwest, Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, Southeast/North, Southeast, Florida Gulf, Hawaii, Barbados and Puerto Rico,” said NSSA Director Janice Aragon. “Every year, the level of these young surfers is through the roof. This year’s class is no different. The performances and both the national interscholastic and nationals are sure to bring out some of the nation’s future pros. The nationals are famous for that. It’s the crystal ball of surfing.”

As far as local talent goes, there will be plenty of hometown heroes vying for the top spot on the podium.

“San Clemente’s Kade Matson is a very skilled, hardworking and seasoned young surfer. His surfing has tons of power. Although he has come close, he has never won a national title,” Aragon said. “He has earned many conference and regional titles throughout his competitive years and just claimed back-to-back West Coast Regionals Open Juniors titles a couple weeks ago. I have no doubt Kade will kick it into overdrive to try and sweep double titles this year. He’ll be competing in both the open juniors and stepping up in age category to the premier open mens division. I would see him as a top contender in both divisions. And it always seems there are a red-hot crew of groms from San Clemente. Hayden Rodgers and Kade’s brother Dane just came off of winning performances at the West Coast Regionals a couple of weeks ago.”

But competing in the NSSA Nationals requires more than just a solid top turn and competent air game. An important aspect of the NSSA program is that it also requires the surfers to perform academically.

“The NSSA requires that all of its competitors are students carrying a minimum 2.0 GPA in order to compete,” Aragon said. “We also put out an annual list of surfer/scholars who are members of the organization and achieve a 3.5 GPA or above. We present a special award annually at the National Championships to the NSSA Surfer/Scholar of the Year. For 2018, this honor goes to San Clemente resident Nolan Rodgers who earned a 4.45 GPA from Capistrano Connections Academy.”

Once the spray settles at Salt Creek and the south side of the Huntington pier, it will be time to direct attention to Lower Trestles for the upcoming USA Surfing Championship. The contest will run from June 15-20 and will not only crown new national champions, but also give us a glimpse of the development of the U.S. national surf program as it starts to ramp up for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo.

On Wednesday, June 20 (finals day), there will be a special Expression Session featuring “Olympians vs. Olympic Hopefuls.”
Top pros such as Kolohe Andino, Griffin Colapinto, Courtney Conlogue and Caroline Marks will be on hand to showcase their talents. Gold medalist snowboarders Red Gerard, Kyle Mack and Lindsey Jacobellis will also be there, as will water polo gold medalist and surfer Kaleigh Gilchrist, along with Winter and Summer Paralympic gold medalist Alana Nichols.

“It’s been an amazing year, and we’re really proud of the progress all of the surfers and competitors have made. It takes a lot of work and dedication to compete at this level and that deserves a lot of respect and admiration,” USA Surfing President Greg Cruse said. “The Olympic movement is moving forward, and we’re really excited about everything that’s coming up. We’ve seen the impact that the Olympics has had on snowboarding for athletes like Red Gerard, and to elevate the sport of surfing in the same way, it’s just a really exciting time for the sport and we wouldn’t be here without the commitment of so many amazing young athletes.”

According to Surfline.com, it looks like there’s plenty of fun-sized southwest swell on tap for the next 10 days. The conditions for both the NSSA Nationals and the USA Surfing Championship should be ideal, so head down to the beach and support your favorite groms. After all, they are the future.

Share this:

  • Share
  • Print
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Reddit
  • Tumblr
Tags: CompetitionDana PointNSSASan ClementesurfsurfingUSA Surfing
ShareTweetPin

Dana Point Times

Related Posts

Victoria Boulevard Apartments

Public-Comment Period Opens for Victoria Blvd. Apartments

January 26, 2023
On Life and Love after 50: Widow Puzzled by a Friend’s Warning

On Life and Love: After 50 Senior Dating Availability—Full-Time, Part-Time or No Time?

January 26, 2023
Editor’s Pick: Ocean Institute Tide Pool Hike

Editor’s Pick: Ocean Institute Tide Pool Hike

January 26, 2023
Hank Snyder

Crosstown Community Stalwart Dedicated to Service Dies at 85

January 26, 2023
Next Post
Surfin’ Round’ Town: Dana Point Trolley now features additional stops, convenient surfboard and stand-up paddleboard racks

Surfin’ Round’ Town: Dana Point Trolley now features additional stops, convenient surfboard and stand-up paddleboard racks

Discussion about this post

No Result
View All Result

DP Times Daily
Get important news and updates delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up here.

Subscriptions
Don’t get the DP Times delivered to your home? Subscribe today.

Advertising
Get new customers and drive traffic to your business. Advertise with us.

Support Local Journalism
For less than the cost of a couple of cups of coffee a month, become an “Insider” member and continue to get “Local News You Can Use” from the only independently owned, dedicated local news organization in South Orange County.

Contribute today.

Picket Fence Media is a proud member of the SoCal Media Network.

  • Contact Us
  • Terms of Use
  • Dana Point Times
  • San Clemente Times
  • The Capistrano Dispatch
  • DP Chamber Directory

© 2022 Picket Fence Media

No Result
View All Result
  • Calendar
    • Event Calendar
    • Submit an Event
  • Sections
    • Eye On DP
    • Soapbox
      • Submit A Letter
    • Getting Out
    • DP Living
    • Sports & Outdoors
    • DP Surf
    • San Clemente Times
    • Capistrano Dispatch
  • Digital Edition
  • Best of DP
  • Legals & Classifieds
    • Locals Only Business Directory
    • Classified
    • Submit a Classified
    • Obituaries
    • Announcements
    • Legal & Public Notice Advertising
    • Legal Notices
  • Special Publications
    • A New You
    • Aging Well
    • Best of Dana Point
    • Crib to College
    • Dana Point Trolley Information & Route Map
    • Dolphin Football Preview
    • Festival of Whales Event Guide
    • Go See Do
    • Holiday Happenings & Gift Guide
    • Home Improvement Guide
    • Money Matters
    • Summer Camp Guide
    • The Green Issue
    • Turkey Trot Event Guide
  • DP Guide
  • Real Estate
    • South County Real Estate Guide
    • Real Estate – Who’s Who

© 2022 Picket Fence Media

loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.