Sebastian Inlet Contest April 19, 2008
Waves of success
Scorpions dominate high school surfing competition
Surfing is not recognized as an official high school sport in the state of Florida.
But don't tell that to the nearly 60 high school surfers who participated in Saturday's high school surfing competition at Sebastian Inlet. Fifty-five surfers from five high schools -- Satellite, Melbourne, Cocoa Beach, Jupiter and Martin County -- entered into the event, which held competitions for varsity boys, junior varsity boys and one combined girls category.
"Surfing may not be a recognized sport in high school, but that doesn't stop us," said George Seguna, Satellite's surf coach, who also helped organize Saturday's event. "But hopefully we'll change that -- that's our goal."
Seguna's Satellite team dominated the event, claiming the boys varsity and girls titles.
Peter Polanski, a sophomore, won the boys varsity title, beating out favorites like Tommy Orsini of Satellite. But that doesn't mean Polanski was surprised to win.
"I came to win, it was my goal," he said. "I'm stoked."
Fellow Scorpion surfer Anne Snyder, however, said she was surprised to place first.
"I definitely didn't expect it," said Snyder, a senior.
She said one wave stuck out in the final heat.
"I remember this huge wave, and usually I don't go when they're that big, and I kept debating whether I should go or not and then I just decided, 'I'll just go,' " she said. "And I actually stuck it."
Zack Snow, a freshman at Melbourne High, won the boys junior varsity event. The inlet cooperated beautifully, producing huge swells that created consistent five-foot waves.
"These are really fun conditions," Seguna said. "Couldn't ask for better. The surfers were actually getting some tube rides."
Seguna said his ultimate goal is for surfing to be recognized as a high school sport. As it is now, he receives no financial help from the school or the state and relies on outside sponsors to financially support events like Saturday's.
Given the area's surfing history, Seguna is optimistic his goal will be realized soon.
"Obviously, we have a huge surfing community here," he said. "And with surfers like Kelly Slater and C.J. Hobgood, there's like nine world titles just from this area. It just makes sense for this area for surfing to be recognized."
Seguna pointed to California, where students receive physical education credits for surfing, as an example of what he would like to see here.
"The east coast is 10 years behind California right now," he said. "We want to be recognized, we want the principals of schools to come out and cheer for surfing like they do for football and basketball and baseball. Most of these surfers out here today don't play those other sports. They surf."
See all of the Pictures by Erin Smith:
 |
| Sebastian 4-19-08 |
No comments:
Post a Comment