Press Release:
2012 OAKLEY SURF SHOP CHALLENGE KICKS OFF WITH SOUTHWEST
REGIONAL AT SEASIDE REEF
Oceanside’s SurfRide Surf Shop Takes the Title And Reserves Trip to Bali
Suggested Tweet: Oceanside’s SurfRide Surf Shop snags Oakley Surf Shop Challenge Southwest Regional title and trip to Bali https://bit.ly/Hy11ni #OSSC
SAN CLEMENTE, Calif., April 12, 2012 – The first event of the 2012 Oakley Surf Shop Challenge went down last Friday at Seaside Reef in Cardiff, and the boys out of SurfRide in Oceanside took the Southwest Regional title, reserving their seats for a round trip flight to Bali for the national championship event in October, where they’ll compete with six other regional champs at Keramas for a shot at the $10,000 grand prize.
Choppy yet consistent windswell provided plenty of waves for the 14 shops that closed down Friday morning throughout the greater San Diego area to attend. The contest is a four-man rotation tag-team format, with a wildcard “whammy” rider as well.
Each team member was given a three-wave maximum and needed to post a score to contribute to their heat total, with their designated “whammy” rider able to double his best score. They had 60 minutes to get all four in and out of the water.
Reigning champs Hansen’s Surf Shop out of Encinitas, led by surfer/shaper/whammier Ryan Burch, were back in good form to defend their title, but the SurfRide team, made up of Darrell Goodrum, Gabe Garcia, Dayton Silva, and Brent Reilly, marked their territory early and often in the final, which was highlighted by Brent Reilly’s 8.05. Reilly was no stranger to the event, serving as a member of the 2008 Surf Shop Challenge national championship team for SurfRide.
“Three years ago I was on the team that won Nationals,” said Reilly, “but that was in Huntington. Not quite Bali. But this is the first time with us four together, and it’s a good crew.”
Darrell Goodrum, who dropped a whammied 6.8 in the final, laid out their strategy pretty clearly. “Catch one and blow up, and don’t turk it. To get a 5 or a 6, and you can come in. We were getting those on our first waves, so we had a lot of time.”
With their win, the Oceanside team earns local bragging rights for a year, as well as an all-expenses paid trip to Bali, Indonesia, custom Oakley sunglasses and gear, 59 custom New Era SurfRide hats, a three-month supply of Muscle Milk, and a shop profile in an upcoming issue of SURFER.
The afternoon portion of the event introduced a new aspect of the contest, the inaugural Oakley High School Challenge, which invited local high school surf teams to compete for a $5,000 grand prize and Oakley prize pack.
The increasing winds and deteriorating conditions did little to deter the local groms who got to miss class to surf, and by the final horn Torrey Pines High School took the scholastic title.
Half of the check from Oakley will be donated to their school’s athletic department, and the other half to their science department. Muscle Milk tacked on an extra $1,500 check for their surf team, which combined with the Oakley prize pack and cartons of Muscle Milk sent them off with their hands full and hormones raging. Oakley also donated $1,000 each to La Costa High and Granite High’s ASB for a spirit award.
The next stop on the 2012 Oakley Surf Shop Challenge is on the Outer Banks of North Carolina, for the Mid-Atlantic Regional on April 17. It’s the second stop of seven on the regional tour, which culminates in Bali on October 6.
The complete 2012 Oakley Surf Shop Challenge calendar:
• April 6 – Southwest – Seaside Reef, Cardiff, Calif.
• April 17-18 – Mid-Atlantic – Kitty Hawk, Outer Banks, NC
• April 19-20 – Northeast – Casino Pier, Seaside Heights, NJ
• June 1 – West – 54th/56th Street – Newport Beach, Calif.
• July 6 – Hawaii – Ala Moana Bowl, South Shore, Haw.
• Aug. 14-15 – Southeast – New Smyrna Beach Inlet, New Smyrna Beach, Fla.
• Aug. 31 – Northwest – Steamer Lane, Santa Cruz, Calif.
• Oct. 6-10 – National Championship – Keramas/Canggu, Bali, Indo.
For all of the latest information including photos, video footage, results and more, check out www.surfshopchallenge.com. Start the conversation with #OSSC
Special thanks to Oakley and other event partners, Muscle Milk, Rusty, Bubble Gum, New Era, Future Fins, Waterman’s Applied Science and Mizu for their support, without which the Surf Shop Challenge series would not be possible.
Please see page 2 for more on the Surf Shop Challenge…
About Surf Shop Challenge
Originally conceived to provide a fun and competitive format for the hardcore surf shop riders, the SURFER Shop Team Challenge was one of the most popular and exciting Southern California contests of the early 1980s. Through the years the contest has evolved, with seven qualifying regional events around the country, culminating in a national championship in Bali, Indonesia for the first time in 2012.
The underlying principles, however, have remained the same. The Oakley Surf Shop Challenge is still about giving back to the shops, the true backbone of the industry and the heart of the sport of surfing. Each year the competition level rises, the stakes become greater and the prizes become bigger.
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 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, and the 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 GrindMedia, which reaches more than 22-million active sports enthusiasts through an integrated network of magazines, online properties, events and television programming. To learn more, visit surfermag.com
About Grind Media
Source Interlink Media’s Grind Media is home to renowned action and adventure sports magazine brands Surfer, Surfing, Snowboarder, Skateboarder, Powder, Bike, Canoe & Kayak, SUP-Standup Paddler, Dirt Rider, ATV Rider, and Paved. Along with our standalone websites, including GrindTV.com, Newschoolers and Motocross.com, Grind Media is the leading provider of print and online action sports and entertainment content in the United States.
Delivering significant reach across both action sports enthusiast and various in-market consumer audiences, Grind Media produces more than 20 leading events and webcasts such as Surfer Poll Awards, Powder Video Awards, Nike 6.0 Lowers Pro, EnduroCross and International Surfing Day. Grind Media is also the exclusive action and adventure sports content provider for Yahoo! Sports. To learn more, visit grindmedia.com.
