Priya Cooper / Asst. Sports Editor

   The University of San Diego is unique for many reasons, one being its proximity to the beach and beautiful environment which allows for many activities that other universities are denied, such as surfing. The USD Surf team consists of around 30 students and is both non-competitive and competitive, allowing for duality and the ability for students to hone in on their skills and  build  community. 

    USD    sophomores    Evan Wall and Bella Gallagher are co-presidents of the surf team, and the team captain is USD senior Kasey Bowles.

     The    Surf   Team    has around three regular season competitions per semester that they train for year-round. Some Toreros were able to compete in state competitions sanctioned by the National Scholastic Surfing Association (NSSA), and this past semester the Toreros were given the chance to compete in States for the first time in years during the weekend of March 1. 

   Competitions are structured so there are multiple rounds with a winner at the end of each round. There’s typically the first three rounds with six people in a heat, lasting 15 minutes, allowing surfers to catch as many waves  as they can within the timeframe. In those 15 minutes, all your waves are scored and then your top two waves are combined and that’s the total score.

    Three students made it to round two, not making it past  round two in the States. However at the third event for the team this year, five people made the quarterfinals, and the Toreros were placed 11 out of the 30 teams competing in Santa Cruz.

      Another aspect to the surfing club at USD is that students can get credits for participating each semester. There is an A, B and C team organized by tryouts at the start of the semester, and individuals can choose to join. 

  Evan Wall commented on how practices are typically run.

      “We practice once a week, and it depends on the waves really, it’s very nature-dependent. We try to do it at least once a week and then we film all those practices and then do a video review with our team captain who’s unfortunately graduating but he was doing a lot of the coaching. We coach ourselves as a team and then do a video review. We usually go to Mission to practice just because it’s the closest and there’s usually not that many people, so it’s easy to film and get a lot of footage of our team. As a team, we also just do unofficial practices at Blacks Beach or other beaches that are a little bit less accessible,” Wall stated.

  Competitive teams tend to push themselves to reach higher levels of skill and performance, often achieving excellence in their field. They also allow the development of strong bonds as they work together to achieve common goals.

 Wall gave more detail on how the club operates.

    “With  the competitive team,   we have our tryouts at the beginning of each semester. And so those are usually at one of the beaches that aren’t too crowded like Scripps or Mission Beach. And there we have our team captain and then sometimes other alumni come and judge those events. Then our leadership team will decide on our teams for the year if it was going to be our competitive members then who we’re going to, have them as extras or as a supplemental team and they’re also just involved with the club,” Wall explained.

    Non-competitive teams also often prioritize building a strong sense of community, fostering long-lasting relationships and a positive atmosphere without the external pressures of competition. The surf team’s position as a team allows them to achieve feats from both sides. 

   Wall explained how despite the individuality of the sport, surfing is acting as a team sport here at USD.

   “Surfing is a very individual sport since it’s one person, but they make it a team sport. In your sub-team you have four guys who are short-borders, two girls short-borders, and then one long-border. And so you’re all competing together which is cool and introduces that team aspect to an individual sport. And then you have individual rankings within your team rankings which pushes you  to support each other as a team and make sure  all your people are getting through  round one, round two, into the quarters and stuff like that,” Wall expanded.

   Wall also talked about the joys of surfing and being a part of such a talented community. 

  “I’ve been surfing my whole life and it’s been a way for me to just kind of de-stress and just get myself into a place where it’s just me and I can be with myself in the ocean which is really cool. But then it also adds a team aspect where all your best friends are surfing with you or competing with you and it’s a social thing as well,” Wall said.

  Surfing is an activity in San Diego that students are taking advantage of by joining the USD club team at all different levels. 

The waves are the equivalent to a field or a stadium for USD surfers. Photo courtesy of @usdsurf/Instagram