The Long Beach High School Surf Club's 5^th annual beach cleanup took on extra significance on Saturday.

The annual cleanup — now in its fifth year, in which more than 40 students and 70 particiants in all gathered on Laurelton Boulevard boardwalk before they cleared garbage and debris from the beach where they live and play — coincided with the inaugural season of the official LBHS Surf Team, coached by Daniel Bobis.

Bobis had to use his interpersonal surfing skills to navigate the choppy waters that stood between him and his dream of bringing competitive scholastic surfing to Long Beach.

"We're the first team in New York State," said Bobis. "It took years to get off the ground. We think it's going to take off, absolutely."

As a four-year member of the club, Treasurer Pat Magennis, a senior, is excited about the surf team and how it dovetails with the beach clean-up project, which is quickly becoming a Long Beach tradition. Magennis sees both near- and the long-term benefits to the project.

"Every year we organize this event to help save our beaches," said Magennis. "We live here year round. Summer people may not respect the beach as much. They just view it as a getaway."

The Surf Club was formed to bring together students who love to surf, but also as a way to help keep the beauty of the Long Beach shoreline and raise awareness about it.

Freshman Emma Harris is acutely aware of the growing popularity surrounding the surf club, the cleanup project and the newly founded surf team. In her first year with both the club and team, she welcomes the responsibility of some day passing this tradition on to other freshman when she becomes a senior.

"We're the beginning of a whole new team," Harris said. "We are the first Long Beach surf team. It's cool."

For sophomore Hayli Weitz, team spirit and popularity is all well and good, but she puts more emphasis on the ideas motivating the cleanup, which are both simple and direct. "It's important to clean up our beaches," Weitz said. "We lay on them in the summer."

Even though he's moving on to college next year, Magennis was particularly upbeat about the future of this youth-driven community tradition.

"You really do feel a connection," he said. "In fact, I had a college interview today that I had to cancel. I couldn't miss this. I'll definitely come back every year. Everybody comes together, we all love it."

* This story was updated from the original on Oct. 18.