NATIONAL SCHOLASTIC SURFING ASSOCIATION (NSSA)

So proud of our Champions! @rissmoore10 @moana.17 . We are cheering for both of you. Go Girls Go! History made! @wsl Billabong Pro Pipeline

Cal Poly San Luis Obispo (@calpolyslosurfteam ) and Point Loma Nazarene University (@plnusurfteam ) are in a dead ratings tie with one event remaining this weekend at Seaside Reef. PLNU takes advantage of the local proximity and are here at Seaside practicing but don’t count out SLO who wants that conference title bad. Action will take place February 5-6 with 27 college teams competing. Let’s Go Teams!!! Team, Men’s, Womens and Longboard Champions will be crowned!#nssainterscholastics #stayinschool

A strong start to the 20/21 SW Explorer Season with a 1st and a 2nd has @taj.miller sitting with a hefty lead in the Juniors rankings. The son of 1987 Open Mens National Champion and former World Tour competitor @tmiller54 , Taj is following in his father’s footsteps quite nicely! Coming up this weekend is SW Explorer events 3 & 4 doubleheader at HB’s Golden West Street sandbars and Taj will be going to battle along with an entire host of shredders from a variety of coastlines. Solid combo swell in the water, perfect for HB!Check out @live_heats for all of the heat draws and live scores. @vogrady_heartwideopen @surfcityusa

Senior Spotlight! #classof2021 Congratulations to NOAH BROWNELL (@noahbrownell ) who graduated from Saint Augustine High School with a 3.0 GPA. Noah praises the teachers for his great high school experience saying it was how caring they were that made my four years at Saint Augustine very easy and fun. He started competing in the NSSA Southeast/North Conference events when he was around 8 years old in the Mini Grom division and has been one of our standout and per...sonable surfers in and out of the water ever since. It was in the past couple years that Noah put forth some of his strongest performances including back-to-back East Coast Regional Championships Open Mens finals appearances in 2020 and 2021. Hands down though he will tell you his biggest competitive highlight was the 2020 East Coast Regionals Explorer Mens victory, the same title his brother Evan won three years prior. My favorite NSSA memory is winning my East Coast title. Nothing compares to that moment!. After graduation, Noah’s summer plans include traveling to Nicaragua for a month staying at @la_jolla_nica and also working at his local surf shop, the Surf Station (@thesurfstation ). He plans on taking business and marketing classes at St. John’s River Community College while also working on real estate courses. His career goal is to get his real estate license and work alongside his good friend Gabe Kling (@thor904 ) who is another one of our talented east coast alums and champions. Bravo Noah!...the future is yours, enjoy the next chapter and always remember that the jersey is always here for you! We’ll see you at the Nationals! See more

Senior Spotlight! #classof2021 Congratulations to SARAH STOTZ (@stotz_sarah ) who graduated from Cocoa Beach High School with a 4.0 GPA. Sarah was ranked 7th overall in her graduating class and was named one of the Valedictorians. Yes indeed, a surfer rising to the highest academic standard! Sarah started competing in the NSSA Southeast Conference Open and Explorer events when she was around 13 and during her years at Cocoa Beach Junior/Senior High School was a member... of its championship surf team. Some of her best contest results have come in the past year where she made back-to-back Open Womens finals at the 2020 and 2021 East Coast Regional Championships and she also claimed the 2021 High School Womens Regional title. This summer Sarah plans on working at Ohana, a local surf camp in Cocoa Beach and in the fall will start her college studies at the University of North Florida who is known for their powerhouse surf teams (@unfsurf ). She selected UNF because in her words, It is a beautiful campus and it is close to the beach. They also have a really good nutrition program. Sarah is setting her sights on a nutrition and dietetics major with the career goal of working with athletes as a sports dietician. Some of her greatest memories of contest surfing is with the Cocoa Beach Surf Team and the camaraderie of being on a team in such an individualized sport. Her best surf memory is surfing perfect Salt Creek at the High School Nationals with three other people! Pic 8: Only a surfer knows the feeling...Sarah celebrating graduation the best way possible...riding waves! See more

Congratulations to MAX ST. DENIS (@maxstdenis831 ) for being named Surfer of the Week for the week of May 29th. Max put forth an outstanding back-to-back win display in the Menehuene division at the 2020/21 Gold Coast Conference opening weekend doubleheader at C Street, Ventura. He also stepped up with double finals appearances in the upper age bracket Explorer Boys which included a monster semifinal heat performance where he dropped a near perfect 9.5 score and another excel...lent 8.17 backup! Growing up in Santa Cruz, Max has been schooled on the world class right point breaks of Steamer Lane and Pleasure Point. He is also surrounded by accomplished and respected local rippers and mentors. He names Austin Smith-Ford (@austinmeetsworld ), Nat Young (@nat_young ), and Darryl Virostko (@darrylfleavirostko ) as his hometown heroes because in his words, I look up to these guys because they inspire my surfing, and to work hard! Max is currently a 7th grade student at Aptos Jr. High School, maintains a 3.8 GPA and his favorite subject is History. To learn more about Max and his accomplishments, be sure to check out his #nssasurferoftheweek profile up now on NSSA.org! See more

Great news for the NSSA Hawaii surfers! Look for a contest schedule to be confirmed soon for mid summer NSSA Hawaii events leading up to the 2021 National Championships! https://www.khon2.com//competitive-ocean-sports-to-resume/

Senior Spotlight! #classof2021 Congratulations to MALIA WARD (@malia_ward ) for graduating from the University of Southern California with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communication and a minor in Entrepreneurship holding a 3.8 GPA! Malia’s connection to the ocean and becoming a major surfing talent was inevitable. She is the daughter of 2-time National Champion and pro surfing icon Chris Ward so the sport was in her DNA. She was raised in Southern California’s wave-r...ich town of San Clemente so the best surf was at her doorstep. Attending secondary school at Connections Academy and San Clemente High School, Malia excelled in academics which included a massive 4.43 GPA earned in the 2015 school year, which ranked number 2 on that year’s NSSA Surfer/Scholar list. She continued her education at USC pursing the degree in Communications because in her words, it’s a versatile degree and I am fascinated by all humans. I believe in the innovation and exploration in how stories are told and messages are shared. Understanding and implementing good communication will help us know together, grow together, and flow together. Malia was a star member of the USC Surf Team winning multiple events as well as taking the College Womens State Championship title for the Trojans in 2019. Speaking of her experiences on the USC Surf Team she said I had a really good time on the team. It is special coming across humans the same age, and on the same wavelength relating to the fact that SURFING IS GOOD FOR THE SOUL. Post college graduation, Malia will utilize her entrepreneurial knowledge to bring her creativity and ideas into realistic fruition while going after enterprising ventures. Surfing will always be a major part of Malia’s life in all aspects, I will continue pursuing my professional surfing goals, she said. And her surfing has taken on a new twist where she was recently cast in a new summer series ‘The Ultimate Surfer!’ This surf competition series featuring Malia along with a cast of other world class surfers will premier on ABC on August 23! #seniorspotlight #uscgrad #2021Trojan See more

Congratulations to TANNER VODRASKA for being named Surfer of the Week for the week of February 14th. The 16-year-old from Camarillo kicked off the 20/21 West Coast season with a big win in the Open Mens in beautiful conditions at Steamer Lane. He backed it up last weekend with a runner up placing at the Hook. Growing up surfing the Ventura beach breaks and looking up to local talented and innovative surfers such as Dane Reynolds ( @sealtooth ) Eithan Osborne ( @eithanosborne ) & Micky Clarke (@_mitchard ), Tanner developed a creative and progressive style. Every time he paddles out, everyone watches to see what he will pull out of his bag of tricks! Be sure to check out Tanner’s #nssasurferoftheweek profile up now on NSSA.org !!! Action @805castro

Open Longboard final results from the NW event #2 at the Hook! 1st: Harper King; 2nd: Jack Snyder; 3rd: Zoe Ann Watson; 4th: Nate Kawasaki. Harper was a double finalist also making the Open Mini Grom final!

It’s Mini Grom Monday! Congratulations to these young shredders who made the Open Mini Grom final at the NW event #2 at the Hook in pumping conditions! 1st: Brody Price; 2nd: Brady Meyer; 3rd: Harper King; 4th: Kai Wolsbeck. These kids crushed it! #nssaminigrommonday #wearethefuture

Open Super Girls final results from NW event #2 at the Hook! 1st: Vela Mattive; 2nd: Avery McDonald; 3rd: Riviera Hunter; 4th: Shea Lovato. This was Vela’s second win of the weekend. This gal dominates in right point break!

Today we salute and pay respects to NSSA founder Chuck Allen who left us on this day February 14th in 2011. Chuck’s vision has paved the way for thousands of student surfers to pursue their dreams whether it be a professional surfing career or continuing their education and becoming leaders in their chosen profession. The NSSA is running the Northwest Conference Open Season event in Santa Cruz today and we dedicate this contest to you Chuck, forever our guiding light.

Results Explorer Super Girls final from the NW event #2 at Pleasure Point! 1st: Saga Espeland; 2nd: Camille Cortazzo; 3rd: Zoe Roth; 4th: Dahlia Zacharia. Noteworthy: This was Saga’s first ever NSSA win!#wearethefuture

Just how good was HB's Ninth Street for the SW Open event 5? We'll let @dimitri_poulos Hagan Johnson @beckadlerr Tex Mitchell @zachhlyons @reon.oba @jake.vandenburg @haydenrodgers_1 @greyson_grant @ellamccaffray show you! photos: @scott_flanders @ Huntington Beach, California

What a way to bounce back and break down barriers and that is just what Brynn Gallagher (@brynngallaghersurf ) did at the 2020 Nationals. A month prior at the East Coast Regional Championships, Brynn fell short of her goal of winning a title and made only one final. After stating herself I wasn’t happy at all with the way I surfed in the East Coast Championships, the 12-year-old from Ocean City, NJ avenged her losses at Regionals and charged back to win her first National t...itle in Open Super Girls. Brynn not only became the first girl from New Jersey to win the division, but the first female from the entire Northeast region to win a National Open or Explorer Championship title!These are some of our favorite moments of our newly crowned Open Super Girls National Champion! Photographers tagged in pics #nationalchampions #nssanationals #nationalchampionship See more

Lucas Owston (@lucas_owston ) is passionate about surfing, he is passionate about working on his skills and he is passionate about winning. A championship mindset. And champions never give up. The work he puts in everyday showed at the Nationals where he put forth an electrifying, blood pumping performance in his Open Juniors victory racking up an 18.70 heat total on wave scores of 9.67 and 9.03. These are some of our favorite moments from Jennette’s Pier of our newly crowned Open Juniors National Champion!Photographers tagged in pics #nationalchampions #nssanationals #nationalchampionship

Great article on Ocean City, NJ's up-and-coming surfers Cruz Dinofa and the Gallagher sisters who made huge statements at the 2020 East Coast Regional Championships and the 2020 Nationals. Check it out! https://973espn.com/extra-points-local-surfers-riding-wave/

The Southeast/North Conference kicked off the 20/21 season this past Saturday at New Smyrna Beach! Surf was a wind blown 3-4 feet and everyone had a blast and were stoked to get the season up and running! @carlburger_15 was the standout of the event winning 3 divisions. Newly crowned Explorer Girls National Champion @savannah_savy_surfer won 3 divisions as well and her brother @grady_grom took both the Open Mini Groms and Explorer Super Groms. Other winners were @braedenkopec @vanceweyandt @ericworley @ivybradleyy and Jay Glynn. NSSA alum @corylopez watched his son @lukethedudelopez take first place in the Menehuenes and daughter @alana_lopez11 win two divisions in Open and Explorer Super Girls. Thank you Linda Johnston (@lindalrjj9 ) for running a great event! SE/N stop number 2 will be held December 5 in NSB!

Sawyer Lindblad (@sawyerlindblad ) was dominant in the Open Girls division at the 2020 National Championships delivering powerful first place performances in every round. The final was no different where the 15-year-old from San Clemente surfed with a high level of intensity posting excellent scores of 8.0 and 8.83 to claim her first Open Nationals victory. These are a few of our favorite moments from Jennette’s Pier of our newly crowned Open Girls National Champion! Photographers tagged in pics #nssanationals #nationalchampions #nationalchampionship

The Southeast/North Conference officially launched the 2020/21 season in NSB and the groms had a blast and collected a lot of hardware! Florida’s future looks bright as the kids begin their road to the 2021 Nationals!

No surfer preserves both the traditional and modern styles of wave riding more than Pua DeSoto (@puamonkeymae ). The 15-year-old Hawaiian from Makaha and daughter of professional surfer Duane DeSoto always competes in both the longboard and shortboard divisions. And like her dad, Pua brings an inspirational surfing style that represents Hawaii’s classic legacy of the sport. Two weeks ago in Nags Head, NC, Pua took home two longboard National titles and two shortboard National titles including the elite championship victory in Open Womens. This puts her career National title count at six. These are a few of our favorite moments of our 6-time National Champion at the 2020 Nationals! x6 Pics: @lcsouthwick #nationalchampions #nssanationals #nationalchampionship

Check out this cool piece seen on Hampton Roads Show of newly crowned 2020 Explorer Juniors National Champion Blayr Barton!

What a moment Diego! In a year that became so improbable, you made the trek from Hawaii to NC to chase your dreams and pursue the probable. You shined on the big stage. 6,000 miles from home and you looked right at home in the OBX. The young Hawaiian from Kailua made three finals and won the marquee Open Mens National title etching his place in history with so many of his heroes. These are some of our favorite moments of our newly crowned champion! photos: @lcsouthwick

The kids love their sport! It is our mission to bring that opportunity to as many as possible. Education is a requirement for these kids before they can put the jersey on. Let us all support their dreams! Pictured are some of the NSSA groms at the 2020 Nationals doing what they love. They are our future!

Congratulations Manasquan High School! The 2020 Northeast High School State Champions. This was Manasquan’s seventh state title! x7 #nssachampions #statechampions #nssainterscholastics #stayinschool @mhssurfteam

Great article on Outerbanks.com on newly crowned National Champions Will Deane! Check it out!

The NSSA Southeast North Conference is kicking off the 2020/21 season on November 7th at New Smyrna Beach Inlet. The 2020/21 SE/N College Season is scheduled for November 8th at NSB Inlet. All competitors must register for 2020/21 East Coast membership in order to compete. Entry forms are available on the website right hand side of the site. Please contact SE/N Director Linda Johnston for more information. Linda’s contact info is on the SE/N entry form. Let’s all welcome in the 2020/21 NSSA season at beautiful New Smyrna Beach! NSB @jermjohnston