PROVO — BYU’s surf club made history this weekend while competing in Southern California. They were the very first landlocked surf team to ever participate in a NSSA surf competition.
This is the first competition that the team has competed in. Considering the team had not practiced in two months, they placed 14th out of 31 teams. The club is in a league with 31 schools from California, Florida, and Hawaii.
“We didn’t win, of course, but it was definitely a good result for a team that hasn’t practiced in two months,” said Christian Bowcutt, member of the BYU surf club.
Jordy Collins, a member of the BYU Surf Club, placed first in his heats all day. He got 5th place overall.
Utah is a landlocked state, so it adds an extra challenge for getting enough practice for their competitions. The team has alternative ways of practicing. They have found river waves in Spanish Fork, Ogden, and Provo. They also use something called a tarp wave, where they skateboard underneath a tarp that makes them feel as if they were surfing under a wave.
“I think it’s really cool to see how you can make something happen even though it doesn’t really make sense or seem like you can,” said Shelby Brown, member of the BYU Surf Club.
BYU students created this club last summer while on a trip in Rosarito, Mexico. They were in Mexico surfing and wanted to bring a piece of it back to Utah with them. So, they contacted the National Scholastic Surf Association and made their dream come true. The club meets every other Wednesday in room 2102 in the Life Science Building. The club has 43 registered members, and they are looking forward to growing their club.
If you would like to donate to Brigham Young Surf Club so that they can travel and participate in more competitions, you can visit https://www.gofundme.com/f/brighamyoungsurf.
