Surfing America setting stage for 3 H.B. events

Dave Brooks

Surf City’s waves could become the stage for three more major surfing

contests, transforming Huntington Beach into the new capital of

competitive surfing.

Just months after a restructured Surfing America opened shop in

Huntington Beach, the organization has announced plans to hold the

USA Championship at the Huntington Beach Pier from June 27 to July 2.

Planners also are working to bring the Quiksilver ISA World Junior

Championships to Huntington Beach in October, and the World Surfing

Games sometime in 2006.

Both those events are equivalent to the Olympics of surfing, with

U.S. national surf teams competing against other countries, said Mike

Gerard, executive director for Surfing America, the national

governing body of competitive surfing. Both the World Junior

Championship and World Surfing Games carry an air of international

flair, Gerard said, and he hopes to kick off each with parades down

Main Street to welcome the flurry of global visitors.

“I remember when we had a similar competition about 10 years ago

and it was a lot of fun,” city events coordinator Naida Osline said.

“There was a procession up Main Street with different people carrying

their flags for their team. Some people brought sand from their

different countries.”

Hosting both international competitions would quadruple Huntington

Beach’s competitive surfing portfolio. Each August, Surf City hosts

the U.S. Open of Surfing, a pro championship event. The addition of

the three new surfing contests could make Huntington Beach home to

the two biggest U.S. and two biggest world surfing competitions.

Gerard is still negotiating a sponsorship deal with Huntington

Beach recreation officials for both international competitions, but

he remains optimistic that a deal can be reached. Last year’s World

Junior Championship was held in Tahiti, while the World Surfing Games

took place in Ecuador.

Holding a surfing event in October will help Huntington Beach

attract more visitors in the fall and spring and lengthen the tourist

season for local businesses, said Doug Traub of the city’s Conference

and Visitor’s Bureau.

“The more we can do to bring surfing here, especially in the

off-season, the better,” he said.

The event announcements are also big news for Surfing America,

which opened shop in Huntington Beach in November after swiping the

national governing body title away from the embattled United States

Surfing Federation. While bringing all three events to California is

a coup for Surfing America, the next test will be to discover what

caliber of team the United States can produce. Surfing America will

manage all the U.S. national teams and is charged with redirecting a

surfing program that hasn’t traditionally competed well.

“Our goal is to present a team that properly represents the level

of surfing talent we have in the U.S.,” Gerard said.