FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Next Stop Casino Pier, NJ, Followed by the Kitty Hawk, NC
San Clemente, CA (April 16, 2010) – The first stop of SURFER Magazine’s Oakley Surf Shop Challenge set the tone for an exciting series, and the next two stops—Casino Pier, New Jersey, and Kitty Hawk, North Carolina—are poised to keep that momentum going. The second event of the series will launch at Casino Pier on April 19 or 20 and will be immediately followed by the next stop in Kitty Hawk on April 22 or 23. The official dates will be announced later today and Monday, April 19, for each respective event in order to ensure the best possible conditions for the competitors.
Last year, shops in these regions all competed in a single Northeast Qualifier, but this year the series has expanded to include two stops in the area: the Northeast and the Mid-Atlantic Qualifiers. The additional event changes the face of the competition, widening the pool of competitors and dividing some long-standing rivalries. Andrew Gesler, Heritage team captain, thinks the additional stop is a great idea, “I’m a big believer in the talent we have out here and am stoked that more East Coast shops will have the chance to represent out West. Although, some of our biggest competitors have been from Virginia Beach and North Carolina so we’re definitely going to miss some of those rivalries, but we’ll be happy to meet them in the finals!”
In last year’s Northeast Qualifier it was a battle royal between Heritage Surf & Sport from Sea Isle City, New Jersey, and Coastal Edge of Virginia Beach, Virginia for the Northeast Regional title. But this year, things will be different as the two are now competing in separate qualifiers. Ultimately, this means that for the first time in Surf Shop Challenge history both could make it into the National Championships and find themselves going head-to-head among the other five Regional victors once more. But don’t be mislead, both regions remain stacked with strong teams; no one gets a free pass into the National Championship.
The addition of a new region has also brought some new shops into the fold this year. There will be fresh teams in the water from Bare Wires Surf & Skate of Long Branch, New Jersey, Suncatcher Surf Shop from Stone Harbor, New Jersey, and Whalebone of Nags Head, North Carolina to name a few.
Invited Northeast Shops:
7th Street Ocean City, NJ
Inlet Outlet Manasquan, NJ
Special Sauce Bay Shore, NY
Primal Surf Shop Brigantine, NJ
Farias Surf Shop Surf City, NJ
Unsound Long Beach, NY
Air and Speed Montauk, NC
Pioneers Board Shop North Hampton, NH
Liquid Dreams Ogunquit, ME
7 Ply Westerly, RI
Wild Ocean Wildwood, NJ
Surfers Supplies Ocean City, NJ
Suncatcher Surf Shop Stone Harbor, NJ
Southend Surf Shop Cape May, NJ
Ocean Hut Larallet, NJ
Bare Wires Surf & Skate Long Branch, NJ
Heritage Surf & Sport Sea Isle City, NJ
Kona Sports Wildwood, NJ
Invited Mid-Atlantic Shops:
WRV Virginia Beach, VA and Kitty Hawk, NC
Surf City Wrightsville Beach, NC
17th Street Virginia Beach, VA
Coastal Edge Virginia Beach, VA
Sweetwater Wrightsville Beach, NC
OBBC Nags Head, NC
Freedom Surf Shop Virginia Beach, VA
Whalebone Nags Head, NC and Virginia Beach, VA
Village Surf Shoppe Murrells Inlet, SC
The Northeast and Mid-Atlantic Regional Champs will head to Huntington Beach, California, on September 13, where they will face off against the each other and the remaining five Regional Champions in a winner-take-all, one-heat one-champ final.
This year’s regional winners will not only earn an expense-paid trip to the National Championship for their chance to score the $10,000 grand prize, but each will also receive a full-page shop profile in SURFER Magazine a Firewire surfboard and a custom designed Buell wetsuit.
For photos, video footage, results, and more check out SurfShopChallenge.com.
Special thanks to Oakley and event partners Muscle Milk, New Era Caps, Firewire Surfboards, Bubble Gum Surf Wax, ASR, and Buell Wetsuits for all their support. Without their involvement the Surf Shop Challenge series would not be what it is today.
About Oakley, Inc.
The global leader in performance sunglasses, goggles and prescription eyewear, Oakley also offers technical and lifestyle apparel, footwear, watches and accessories. The company was created for athletes who see impossibility as just another challenge, and their dedication inspires Oakley to seek out problems, solve with innovation and wrap invention in art. Exceeding the limits of possibility for more than thirty years, Oakley serves the demands of world-class athletes with unbeatable technologies including High Definition Optics® (HDO®). Additional information is available at www.oakley.com.
About SURFER:
In 1960, SURFER Magazine began as the original. After a long history of delivering provocative and insightful editorial features, revealing interviews and award winning state-of-the-art photography, SURFER remains the authoritative voice of the surfing world and thus earned the moniker “the bible of the sport.” The SURFER brand has also grown to include Surfermag.com, Fantasy Surfer, The Hot 100, My SURFER Cover and a myriad of SURFER message boards. All of these assets combine to make the SURFER network the most current and reliable channel of information to the surf community. The magazine is published by Source Interlink’s Action Sports Group (ASG), which reaches more than 2 million active sports enthusiasts through an integrated network of magazines, online properties, events and television programming.
