An atypical day at beach

Some kids were making sand castles; others were out on the water, riding their boogie boards on the rippling waves. All in all, it was a typical summer day on the shore at Newport Beach’s 61st Street and Seashore Drive. What wasn’t so typical, though, was the group of kids on hand.

A number of underprivileged kids have gotten the chance to learn and apply beach basics this week. They were sponsored by BeachSports and El Viento, a nonprofit organization in the Oak View neighborhood of Huntington Beach. Some of the kids did not even know how to swim until a few months ago, but that didn’t seem to matter Thursday.

“You can tell right now,” said Alex Benitez, who works for El Viento. “They’re having a blast. They love it here.”

Though many of the kids had never boogie-boarded or surfed before this week, they didn’t want to leave the water after getting the basics down.

“They’d probably stay in until the end of the day [if we didn’t call them out],” said Kelsey Chase, head counselor for BeachSports.

BeachSports counselors have taught the kids about ocean life, skin care and water activities like boogie-boarding and surfing throughout the week. According to counselor Kyle Turner, the kids have been exposed to a number of novel experiences in just the past few days.

“How many of you here have boogie-boarded?” he asked them at the beginning of the week. “None raised their hand. We’re opening a lot of doors for them here, and they’re having a great time.”

The kids echoed the fun they were having at the beach.

“It’s a really fun place to be at,” Jessica Camacho, 10, said.

“You can build lots of stuff and create things,” Arla Villarruel, 10, said.

BeachSports programs run from 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. weekly.

The partnership between BeachSports and El Viento was only for this week, as the bulk of the BeachSports programs are for kids from Newport.

El Viento is an organization benefiting the Huntington Beach community, and features a nine-year program that provides kids in Oak View with activities for the short term and opportunities for the long run.

Kids who stick with the program from the fourth grade until the end of high school may be rewarded with a two-year scholarship at the completion of high school.