After securing the National Scholastic Surfing Association (NSSA) title in June, the Point Loma Nazarene University surf team is gearing up to bring it home for the eighth time this upcoming season.
On Sept. 21, the team witnessed a fresh crop of surfers give it their all in the Sub Bowl lineup right off campus, with the hopes of joining the championship team. After not having waves for days, the team witnessed the competitors make the most of the high tide and small swell.
Tucker Coleman, a fourth-year business administration major and surf team captain, noted that despite the conditions, the new team members proved a huge asset toward reclaiming that title.
“The freshmen this year are really strong, and the newcomers on the team are super strong,” Coleman said.
Among those new members is first-year political science major Indie Hoffman, who joined as a woman’s longboarder. She hopes to achieve not only another national title for the team, but to also advance a couple rounds in the co-ed longboarding division.
“My main priority and main goal right now is to make a few rounds against the guys,” Hoffman said. “That’s something that I’m looking forward to and excited to attempt.”
Despite the competitiveness of the sport, the team has some exceptional surfers supporting each other in the water and on campus, even with pressures to defend the title.
“I think that we’re [going to] be having a good time no matter what, because we’re just all going to be together and like having fun and supporting each other,” Coleman said. “It’s good camaraderie of the team.
Another surfer joining the team is first-year business major Bryse Celaya, who sealed a spot to compete in the men’s shortboard division.
“I am very stoked, very happy. Worked hard for it,” Celaya said. “Some pressure is definitely having to defend the national title. We killed it last year, so I’m hoping to just keep that rhythm going.”
Camaraderie isn’t the only thing winning championships; it’s also hard work. Members of the team can be spotted out in the line-up just off campus nearly every day, before and after classes, with official practices hosted by the captains every Saturday.
“We’re not like surf teams from the other schools, because we don’t necessarily have a defined coach. It’s just the team captains,” Coleman said. “And I think since everyone on the team is so good and has different strengths, we can build off of each other and learn from each other, and that’s what we’ve done the last two years, and it’s worked.”
Also putting in the effort to contribute to such a staggering team is first-year business marketing major Hudson Saunders, who also earned a spot as a freshman for men’s shortboarding and is hoping to contribute to another national title.
“The end goal is to win no matter what,” Saunders said. “That’s what we all want to do, but just to improve as a surfer and a human throughout the year, that’s all I can ask for.”
The team also welcomed new members Nate Macbeth, Finley Weitzen, Max Kaplan, Kaimana Balding, Candelaria Resano, Sydney Doi, Taylor Bradley and Ethan Howard to compete in the new season.
On Saturday, Oct. 26, the first competition of the season will be hosted at Blacks Beach, where spectators will be able to witness these rising surfers. After seeing what these surfers can do firsthand, some remarkable performances in their heats are to be expected.
“I think that a lot of other teams are going to have to do a lot to beat us,” Coleman said.
