Surfing America earns its stripes

Dave Brooks

A Huntington Beach surfing organization has scored a coup in the

international surfing community and emerged as national authority for

the sport.

Surfing America, a small surfing outfit with offices on Florida

Street near Downtown, has been selected as the National Governing

Body for the sport, wresting the title away from the embattled United

States Surfing Federation.

Executive Director Mike Gerard made the announcement at last

week’s Huntington Beach City Council meeting and said the new

designation would help Huntington Beach solidify its branding as Surf

City U.S.A.

“We’re very pleased by the result,� he said. “Competitive surfing

in America, on all levels, has been dysfunctional for far too long

and this is a critical step in our master plan to fix the situation.�

Surfing America will now manage the U.S.A. Surf Team, which will

compete in the 2006 World Championship of Surfing, and Gerard hopes

to hold the competition in Huntington Beach. He also hopes to bring

the International Surfing Assn.’s Quiksilver Junior Championship to

Surf City in 2005. Surfing America will manage the Junior Team as it

competes this year at the championship in Tahiti.

In the past, Gerard said, the U.S. Surfing Federation wasn’t able

to collaborate with several regional organizations and pool together

the best talent possible.

“During the last surfing world championships, the U.S. team was

beaten by Switzerland,� Gerard said.

Gerard embarked on what was considered impossible in the surfing

industry and united three of the biggest regional surfing

organizations -- the Eastern Surfing Assn., the National Scholastic

Surfing Assn. and the Hawaii Amateur Surfing Assn. -- into Surfing

America. Gerard also got a thumbs up from Dick Baker, president of

the powerful Surf Industry Manufacturers Assn.

With those commitments on board, the International Surfing Assn.

-- the international authority on surfing -- voted to make Surfing

America the new national governing body during the World Games in

Salinas, Ecuador last March.

“They’ve really shown us that they have the support of the

majority of Surfers in America,� said Lindsay Nelson of the

International Surfing Assn.

“This is a chance to show the world what America has to offer,�

she said. “The U.S. is the headquarters surf manufacturing and we

want to have a team that reflects U.S. talent.�

Huntington Beach Conference and Visitors Bureau President Doug

Traub said the new designation is also good for Huntington Beach.

Besides amateur events, Surfing America will oversee events for

the Assn. of Surfing Professionals North America including the U.S.

Open of Surfing and the Hello Kitty Boardfest.

Traub said, ideally, more events can be brought in toward the end

of the year to augment the big summer draws.

“We have to ask ourselves what kind of new surfing events can come

out of this,� he said. “This is our tax base and these events

generate sales tax and transient occupancy taxes [from hotels] that

fund important services in the city.�