President, NHB Futbol Club

Shereen Walter
Community Correspondent

The spirit of some of our local residents showed through bright and clear at 6:30 am on Thursday morning as the Wellington Tornadoes took to the waves. As the sun came up over the Huntington Beach pier, the Tornadoes were matched with surfers from the Dwyer Middle School surf team for a surf lesson.

The Wellington Tornadoes are a team of Under 14 boy soccer players from Wellington, New Zealand. They are part of an exchange program with North Huntington Beach Futbol Club (NHB) and are here to participate in the San Diego President’s Cup this coming weekend.

The New Zealanders, or Kiwis as they are called, were provided wetsuits by the generosity of Jack Clapp of Dwight’s and Dave Clapp of Jack’s, both local food and rental shops in Huntington Beach. Soccer players from NHB lent out their surf boards and the Kiwi’s were ready.

They wondered why they had to go surfing at 6:30 in the morning and Stacy Wood, the surf coach at Dwyer, told them “This is when we surf!” Well, that explained that. The boys headed down to the water where they were matched up with the local middle school surfers and off they went. For most of the players, this was their first time surfing and due to luck and some good small surf, many of them were able to stand and ride a wave into shore.

The smiles on their faces as they shivered out of the water and the cheers and support from the Dwyer surf team as they were successful was heart warming and an example of what a great community Huntington Beach is.

Thanks again Stacy Wood, Dwyer Surf Team members, Jack Clapp, Dave Clapp and all the families that lent out boards. This was a morning the Kiwi’s will never forget.