Press Release:
SAN CLEMENTE, Calif., June 5, 2012 – After a stacked final in Newport, the boys from Jack’s Surfboards were crowned the West Regional Champs at the fourth stop of the 2012 Oakley Surf Shop Challenge. The Final had four teams—all former regional champs—competing for the top spot and the expenses-paid trip to Bali for the National Championship.
With 12 surf shop teams in attendance from throughout Orange County and L.A., the competition was heated for the chance to compete at Keramas for a shot at the $10,000 grand prize. 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.
At 54th St., a barrage of waves in the last ten minutes of the heat saw the lead switch three times during the Final. It was Bobby Okvist, riding for Jack’s, who clinched the win, linking five turns together on a doubled-up left for a late 7.33. Okvist followed up his teammate Chris Waring’s whammied 5.53 in response to a late 7.67 by Spyder Surf’s Kelly Zaun and an 8.5 from Katin Surf Shop’s Tanner Hendrickson—the highest scored wave of the entire event. The score pushed their team total score to 27.72, defeating rival Katin Surf Shop by a mere four tenths of a point.
“Bobby came in at the end, and just blew up,” said Jack’s teammate Matt Pagan.
“The waves were pretty bad, so we were just trying to get quick waves off the start,” said Bobby Okvist. “I had a lot of time, because they did their part, got good scores, and got finished really fast. I just took my time, got good waves, and linked one all the way to the inside.”
“I was pretty nervous,” added Okvist. “I was shaking bad, but after I got my second wave, it was all good. So excited for Bali.”
A coincidentally well-timed lag in the judges’ scoring system at the end of the Final left the surf shop teams waiting in suspense at the podium, where the boys from Jack’s eventually stepped up to raise the trophy and receive their loot. With their win, the Jack’s team earns an all-expense-paid trip to Bali, custom Oakley sunglasses and gear, 59 custom New Era Jack’s hats, a three month supply of Muscle Milk, and a shop profile in an upcoming issue of SURFER.
The next morning saw the second stop of 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. Newport’s Harbor High took top honors for the groms, taking home the priceless local bragging rights as well as the purse and Oakley gear. Half of the check from Oakley will be donated to their school’s athletic department, and the other half to their science department.
“There was a lot of competitive energy flowing and we were stoked to be apart of it,” said Newport’s coach Matt Burns. “That Final was intense. The boys were dialed in and surfed perfectly. Their patience and quality decisions were clutch. I’m super proud of the team and happy to have the bragging rights.”
The next stop on the 2012 Oakley Surf Shop Challenge is in Hawaii at Ala Moana on July 6. It’s the fifth stop of seven on the regional tour, which culminates in Bali on October 6.
The complete 2012 Oakley Surf Shop Challenge calendar:
· Stop #1: April 6 – Southwest – Seaside Reef, Cardiff, Calif.
· Stop # 2: April 19 – Mid-Atlantic – Jenette’s Pier, Nags Head, NC
· Stop #3: April 20 – Northeast – Casino Pier, Seaside Heights, NJ
· Stop #4: June 1 – West – 54th/56th Street – Newport Beach, Calif.
· Stop #5: July 6 – Hawaii – Ala Moana Bowl, South Shore, Haw.
· Stop #6: Aug. 14-15 – Southeast – New Smyrna Beach Inlet, New Smyrna Beach, Fla.
· Stop #7: Aug. 31 – Northwest – Steamer Lane, Santa Cruz, Calif.
· Final: 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.
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, solvewith 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-artphotography, 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
