Rival Teams Hope to Catch a Break

After weathering a few storms -- or the lack thereof -- the inaugural National Surf League will stage the championship of the California Cup today in Huntington Beach.

A team of surfers from Orange County won the right to play host to San Diego in the finale, to be contested near Golden West Street and Pacific Coast Highway, beginning at 9 a.m.

The championship competition, which will consist of two eight-man teams going head to head in a four-quarter format, was moved up a week because of favorable wave conditions and to accommodate competitors who wanted to leave early for another competition.

Orange County swept the opening three-game series earlier this month alongside the Huntington Beach Pier and clinched home-break advantage for the championship last weekend in Oceanside.

A lack of consistent waves two weeks ago at the series stop in Santa Cruz forced the final game between Santa Cruz and Ventura to be postponed until Friday. Santa Cruz won, 197.25-146.75, lifting San Diego into the title showdown against Orange County.

“They’re rivals,” said Brad Gerlach, a veteran professional surfer who founded the team competition format. “Basically, the game was founded on Orange County vs. San Diego County.”

Gerlach said the series took a major financial hit when the title sponsor did not make payments, but he said other sponsors had helped pick up the slack.

“We basically lost our funding,” Gerlach said. “But we persevered.”