Spring Surf Day Unites Long Beach

A surfing contest, surf lessons, board swap, food drive and beach clean up were knitted together into a new designated day for Long Beach. Spring Surf Day featured these events and activities through Saturday, and the entire beach community was encouraged to participate.

Surfers from along the East Coast were attracted to the Atlantic Surfing Federation (ASF) & NYNJSurf.com District Spring Surf Contest. Competitors had the chance to earn points to qualify for other surfing events, including the USA Surfing Championships run by Surfing America, the national governing body of surfing.

“I have a lot of surf contests coming up and I am very excited to be here,” said Noah Wilson, a 13-year-old Long Beach resident who participated in the contest. 

Long Beach's T.J. Gumiela won the contest and the $200 cash prize, narrowly taking down another city native, Richie Bogart.

Surfers for Hungry Food Drive benefited the Food and Friendship Inn, a food pantry in Long Beach. Participants in the day’s events dropped off canned goods and non-perishables.

“We knew that the food pantry in particular needs help this time of year because most people think of the good pantry around Thanksgiving,” said Will Hallett, a board member of Long Beach Surfer’s Association (LBSA) and administrator of NYNJSurf.com. “People are hungry all year round, so it was important for us to do from that respect.”

Board Swap on the Boardwalk piqued the interest of many passers-by. Avid surfers sold and traded surfboards and other accessories they no longer use.

LBSA, the Long Beach High School Surf Team and Surfrider Foundation Beach Cleanup had residents of all ages partake in picking up garbage.

Hallett spoke of the enormous volume of garbage that accumulates on the beach. To reduce the trash that blows on the beach, LBSA has been working with the City of Long Beach and local sponsors to put new garbage cans with covers on the beach. Their arrival is expected prior to Memorial Day weekend.

A coach of the LBHS Surf Team and social worker at West School, Rachel Bobis explained the impact of the cleanup on Long Beach students. “Something we try to instill in our students is not just enjoying the ocean, but valuing it as a resource and taking care of the ocean and its beaches,” she said.

Meanwhile, Surf2Live and Skudin Surf School gave free surf lessons to newbies to the sport of surfing. “We thought it would be a good idea to give first timers the opportunity to use their backyard and show them a safe way to use it,” said Cliff Skudin, the school’s owner.

Hallett, who lives in the West End, said he had organized these types of events in the Rockaways, but always wanted to bring the experience to his hometown. He noted that Surf Day 2012 couldn’t have happened without the various organizations and sponsors working together, including Mike Nelson and Dave Juan, owners of two surfing shops, UnsOund Surf on East Park Avenue and Quiksilver in Oceanside.

Saturday’s event was held a month after LBSA worked with SMASH (Surf, Movies, Art, Shaping and History) to stage Surf Movie Night at Long Beach Cinema. That festival featured four surfing documentaries, including a film about Point Lookout pro surfer Balaram Stack and the Quiksilver Pro New York competition, held in Long Beach last September. 

While the international competition will not return to New York this year, LBSA and the local surfing community are trying to extend the positive vibes they experienced at last year’s contest. “Yes, we are trying to maintain it, but really it is maintaining itself,” Hallett said. “It is a really tight knit culture, one that is very accepting, and welcoming.”

Mark Davy, chairperson of Surfrider’s Central Long Island chapter and a Long Beach resident and lifeguard, said the Quiksilver event helped put Long Beach on the map as a surfing town.

“We wanted to bring more awareness to the issue,” he said. “Recently, LBSA and other local groups worked with the City Council to get more beach access for surfers so it would be a little safer.”