Surf League Is Riding a Team Format
About a dozen of Orange County’s best surfers gathered early this week near a bright red tent on the south side of the Huntington Beach Pier.
A few stared at the emerging southwest swell and described their experiences in similar conditions at this legendary surf spot. Others checked the shape of a counterpart’s new board or described a design they were preparing to try.
The scene contrasted with the way professional surfers typically behave in the days before a competition, when few words are exchanged and even fewer trade secrets are shared.
But top pros from up and down the coast are setting those customs aside for the next five weeks as they prepare for the first team-oriented professional surf league to hit the beaches in the United States.
The National Surf League’s California Cup debuts today in Huntington Beach with teams from Orange, Ventura and San Diego counties and Santa Cruz going head to head over the next three days in a game format first used last summer at the X Games.
“It’s the first time 40 of the best surfers in California have been in one spot,” said Orange County Coach Mike Parsons, a big-wave specialist from San Clemente who spent more than a decade on the World Championship Tour.
The NSL is the brainchild of Brad Gerlach, a former runner-up to the world title, and his father, Joe, who about 10 years ago began wondering how to build awareness for a sport that previously had rewarded only individual achievement.
In Gerlach’s mind, if professional golf could accomplish team play with the Ryder Cup, and professional tennis could do the same with the Davis Cup, why couldn’t professional surfing have a similar competition?
Gerlach staged two informal contests in San Diego County in the early 1990s, wrote rules, and then kept the idea tucked in the back of his mind as he rose in the ranks of his profession.
“I’ve since become a big NBA fan and find this format very similar,” Gerlach said. “You can look at stats, get production off the bench. You even have some players who are incredible surfers but have bad behavioral traits.”
Gerlach’s grand plan is for the NSL to have East Coast and Hawaiian Islands divisions within the league, as well as countries such as Australia and Brazil. Ideally, the regions would come together for a World Cup-style event.
On a smaller scale, some competitors see the teams developing a minor league system, with surfers from cities within the county making up their own teams, all with the goal of making it to the “big club.”
“You can see there’s so much potential,” said Danny Nichols, 24, a professional surfer from Huntington Beach.
The format is designed to include eight surfers and two alternates per team. The game features four players per side and lasts four quarters. Each side takes its turn in the water during the timed quarter, much like an inning in baseball. They each attempt to impress judges, who score on a scale of 1 to 10. The team has three timeouts and coaches to adjust strategies for the unpredictable wave action.
“The coaches all have a long experience with the ocean,” Gerlach said. “They have to be able to call timeouts and read the conditions and understand the strengths and weaknesses of the players.
“Parsons is an experienced competitor. He knows how to dismantle a break and figure out where the best waves are coming through.”
After this weekend, the series continues the next four out of five weekends. C Street in Ventura will be the next stop May 7-9, followed by Steamer Lane in Santa Cruz, May 14-16, and the Oceanside Pier, May 21-23. After a break over Memorial Day weekend, the team leading the competition after the Oceanside stop will host the finals, June 4-6.
In addition to exposing competitors and followers to a new style of competition, the league is perceived as an avenue for local professionals to attract sponsors and develop competitive skills closer to home.
Of the 45 professionals who earned automatic berths on the WCT this year, only four were from California. By comparison, Australians earned 22 automatic berths and Brazilians accounted for eight. Although the NSL will not help competitors earn qualifying points for the WCT, it will give them valuable experience under pressure. Gerlach has secured some top industry sponsors, such as O’Neill, Billabong and Quiksilver. ESPN2 will replay the contests in June.
The competitors “don’t want to blow up in front of so many people and so much industry,” Gerlach said. “There’s going to be a lot of people down there wondering if this guy rips better than that guy.”
At the inaugural X Games surf competition in August in Huntington Beach, the format was popular with contestants and fans, although the waves were only one to two feet for the one-day competition. Organizers for the X Games were pleased enough to adopt the format for its upcoming Southland event in August.
Some competitors have begun taking the competition so seriously that they are planning trips to other breaks to practice.
“I’m going to go talk some trash with the Santa Cruz boys tomorrow,” Tim Reyes of Huntington Beach joked earlier this week. “Actually, I really just want to get to know that wave over there. We’re from a beach break and they’re from a point break. It’s going to be interesting to see the two different styles.”
Among the other surfers expected to compete for the Orange County team is WCT tour member Pat O’Connell of Laguna Beach. Surfing legend Tom Curren is scheduled to compete for Ventura County, and one of the sport’s most popular figures, Rob Machado, is scheduled to compete for San Diego County.
As Mike Todd of Laguna Beach stretched his legs before heading out for a practice session in the strong currents, he enjoyed the camaraderie among his rivals.
“It’s nice to see the local surfers getting along instead of hating each other,” he said. “Out in the water, instead of getting bummed because the other guy just got a great ride, you’re hooting and hollering for them.
“That’s the way it should be. Surfing is all about sharing the waves.”
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California Cup
* What: National Surf League’s inaugural California Cup.
* Who: Teams from Orange, Ventura and San Diego counties and Santa Cruz.
* When: Today through Sunday, 9 a.m.-noon.
* Where: South side of Huntington Beach Pier.
* Competition format: The game is divided into four quarters, with each four-man side taking a turn during a quarter. The two best-wave scores for each surfer are combined with his teammates’ to form a team total. The team with the highest point total at the end of the fourth quarter is the winner. Each team features eight players, two alternates, coaching staffs and timeouts.
* Forecast: The huge southwest swell that hit this week has tapered off, but consistent chest- to head-high waves, some overhead, are expected to linger through the weekend.
* Cost: Free.