WIPED OUT
Why No More Native Hawaiians on the WCT?

Native Hawaiian TJ Barron

Grom parents also need to invest a thousand-something a year in surf contest entry and membership fees. Then there’s a thousand more dollars needed for travel funds to the neighbor islands and California to compete in the NSSA. And this is all so the keiki can surf in front of industry heads to get a sponsorship. Do the math. Basically, to get a child sponsored, parents need to shell out roughly $3,000 a year. And if you’re a poor kanaka living on the beach at Ma‘ili, an extra $3,000 for surfing is harder to find than cheap rent on the North Shore. In pidgin, a mom might tell her boy, “If no mo money, no can, honey.”

Although Native Hawaiians live in a “free country” that doesn’t inhibit one’s aspirations for greatness, the lack of opportunities in competitive surfing is directly related to having the funding for those aspirations. “In order for certain opportunities to be there, you need to have economic and social independence,” says President and Headmaster of the Kamehameha Schools Dr. Michael Chun. “And, you look at the Hawaiians, you see in every social and economic indicator, Hawaiians win all the negative ones and lose all the positive ones.”

Aside from the socio-economic causes, another potential reason that there aren’t more Native Hawaiians on the ‘CT is the paradox of paradise. Hawai‘i’s epic waves, sub-tropical climate, beautiful people and the Vans Triple Crown of Surfing make it hard for anyone to leave the Islands, especially surfers. Why go on the grueling World Qualifying Series, spend choke money and surf ankle-biter, mush burgers in a foreign land, when you can post up at home, be comfortable and surf world-class waves?

“I reckon it is harder for Hawaiian kids to go on the road because the vast majority of places they travel to do not remotely compare to home. These other venues just don’t measure up,” says 1978 World Champion of Surfing and ASP President Wayne “Rabbit” Bartholomew. “This makes it bloody hard. They get homesick and may be distracted.”

Six-time Triple Crown Champion Sunny Garcia is living proof that Hawaiians can overcome homesickness and rise to the top of pro surfing. According to the 2000 World Champ, all it takes is a warrior’s determination. “Hawai‘i puts out the best surfers bar none, but if you want that glory then you got to fight for it,” says Uncle Sunny. “Because if you sit in Hawai‘i and wait for something to fall in your lap, the only thing that’s gonna fall is rain.” Although Garcia and the local surf community encourage up-and-coming Hawaiian surfers to pursue professional careers, the Hawaiian community’s support of competitive surfing is as scarce as O‘o birds (Hawaiian honey suckers).

Neighborhoods rally around the hometown hero regularly in Hawai‘i, just look at the Little League teams from Hilo and ‘Ewa Beach the past two years. But the Native Hawaiian community is not nearly as supportive of pro surfing. Native Hawaiian organizations like the Office of Hawaiian Affairs and the Kamehameha Schools have not taken an interest or active role in professional surfing. This lack of support has had an impact on Hawaiian surfers because those organizations, which were established to help Natives, don’t recognize surfing as a lucrative career. These organizations provide scholarships for Hawaiians to pursue their academic and sports careers in college, but have never helped a Hawaiian ripper get to NSSA Nationals or any other surf contest. This is ironic when you consider that surfing is the most prominent contribution by ancient Hawaiians to the world. Hawai‘i is the modern birthplace of surfing.