Press Release:
SUN DIEGO HIGH SCHOOL SURF TEAM SHOWDOWN CROWNS CHAMPS
South County Schools North County in The Game™
CARLSBAD, Calif.—The inaugural Sun Diego High School Surf Team Showdown presented by SPY went down at South Cardiff State Beach on Saturday, June 2, with the Point Loma Pointers capturing the Division 1 title and the University City Centurions taking the Division 2 win in two-to-
three foot surf at Seaside Reef.
Each division winner earned $1,000 and a year’s worth of bragging rights as one of San Diego County’s top high school surf teams.
“We’re extremely happy with the outcome of the event,” says Pete Censoplano, VP of Operations and Marketing for Sun Diego.
“The kids and coaches were stoked, and that’s how we measure success. There is definitely opportunity for the development of stronger support for high school surfing throughout San Diego County and beyond, especially if the schools and city municipalities get behindThe Game™ team format.”
The event invited eight of San Diego County’s finest academic surf teams including Torrey Pines, Point Loma, San Dieguito Academy, Carlsbad, San Marcos, Granite Hills, University City, and Rancho Buena Vista who put it all on the line in the name of school pride.
With The Game™ coming to completion, SPY professional surfers Nate Tyler, Ben Bourgeois, Torrey Meister, and University City alum Joel Tudor were on hand to cheer on the competitors and present awards to the division winners Point Loma and University City.
“The event was perfect for pulling together the diverse surfing communities that exist in here in San Diego,” says SPY Marketing Director and University City HS alumnus Devon Howard.
“There was definitely some behind the scenes smack talking between the teams—which showed how much they all wanted to win—but at the end of The Game™ everyone shook hands. This event definitely spurred some new high school rivalries which will make next year’s showdown even more exciting.”
On behalf of the participating schools, SPY is making a $2000 donation to the California Surf Museum—a non-profit resource center that showcases historical surf culture memorabilia and surfboards.
The museum’s History of Surfing in San Diego display allowed people to reminisce about their own surfing past, as well as appreciate the deep roots their community has with the development of surfing as a culture and a sport.
“Special thanks go out to the National Surf League’s (NSL) The Game™ cofounder Brad Gerlach and his partner Shaun Burrell, who played a huge part in making this event successful and creating a new legacy for High School competitive surfing,” adds Howard, who has pledged to work with Sun Diego to bring the event back to Seaside Reef next year.
For the contest video, log-on at www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ig3vj2tqCA&feature=youtu.be. For contest images, go to https://on.fb.me/NGacXl. For more information about SPY, log-on at www.spyoptic.com, www.facebook.com/spyoptic, Twitter @spyoptic and @spyoptic on Instagram.
