They Search for a Wave of Recognition : San Dieguito Surfers Hope to Make Name for Themselves at State Meet

A sign that welcomes visitors to this seaside city boasts proudly that this is the “Surfing Capital of the World.”

Some surfing capital.

Surfers from Encinitas’ San Dieguito High School compete on one of the state’s best teams yet hardly are recognized within the community.

“People ask me what I do, and I tell them I coach the surfing team at San Dieguito High,” said Bob Gilholm, a volunteer. “And they say, ‘I didn’t even know they had a surfing team there.’ ”

But San Dieguito does have a team, one so good that although one member turned pro and can no longer compete this year, the team still is one of the favorites at this weekend’s California Interscholastic Surfing Federation state championships at Oceanside. Competition begins at 6 a.m. today and Sunday at the Oceanside jetty.

The event will bring together eight of California’s best high school teams, including Huntington Beach, San Clemente, Dana Hills, Carlsbad and San Dieguito.

San Clemente, the defending state champion, is seeded first, followed by Huntington Beach and San Dieguito. Carlsbad is seeded No. 8. There also will be individual and Boogie Board competitions.

“This would be a great contest to win,” San Dieguito’s Chris Gage said. “We know what we can do as a team at San Dieguito, but it would be nice to let some other people in on it.”

The state meet is organized with 15 surfers from each team--12 boys and 3 girls--counting equally in team scoring.

San Dieguito has a strong group of girls led by Katy O’Neil, who finished second in her first competition last month.

“I’m feeling a little pressure because I don’t want to let the team down,” said O’Neil, who plays soccer for the high school. “It’s fun being on the same team with the guys, but it’s a lot of pressure, too.

“I’ve only been surfing for a few years, but this sport is a lot of fun. It’s different than soccer because it’s more of an individual sport.”

By offering team competition in an individual sport, organizers are hoping to bring surfing into the mainstream.

“This event can go a long way in helping high school surfing gain more credibility,” said Ted Ruhman, the contest director. “But I think we’re getting there. This state championship is being run better and better, and pretty soon, I think the CIF (California Interscholastic Federation) will take notice and more people will notice that high school surfing deserves to be recognized.

“For years, surfing and school just didn’t seem to go together. It was in people’s minds that you couldn’t do both. That’s why people are kind of surprised when you say ‘high school surfing team.’ ”

They certainly are surprised in Encinitas when they find out about the school surfers, Gilholm said.

“I’d give back a lot of the trophies I’ve won over the years for a varsity letter,” John Siberell said. “Because that would mean I’m being recognized by my school. I think that’s important to all of us.”

San Dieguito’s team, as at most other high schools, is a club team. Competitors are not eligible for athletic letters, and the teams do not receive school funding.

Said Andrew Fierro, San Dieguito’s No. 3 surfer: “We all know we have a lot of great surfers on this team. At school, though, it’s football and more football. They barely know anything about us. It’s pretty unfair, because we’re out here surfing representing our school, but they don’t even recognize us.”

Siberell, 16, and Gage, 16, also are members of the National Scholastic Surfing Assn.’s national team, and even that honor hasn’t propelled them to higher status as campus athletes.

Last month, both competed in Hawaii, and earlier this year, Siberell competed in Australia and on the Indonesian island of Bali. Siberell, who won the first contest he entered when he was 10, is San Dieguito’s top surfer.

“I guess surfing’s always been in my blood,” Siberell said. “My mom told me that she went surfing when she was five months pregnant with me.”

Siberell also has a 3.4 grade-point average.

“To be on the national team, you’ve got to have at least a 2.0,” he said. “But I want to do better than that, because down the road I know there’s a lot more out there than to surf.”

Eric Reno ranks No. 2 on the team, followed by Fierro and Gage. Even though Gage is on the national team, he slipped to No. 4 on this year’s strong San Dieguito team.

“And we’d be even stronger if Colin (Smith) didn’t turn pro,” Reno said.

If they get better, they might even begin to get some recognition from this surfing capital.