QUIKSILVER
Surf Shop Challenge Set to Commence This Week

Brave New World Surf Shop's Sam Hammer competing in last year's Northeast regionals

Now in its fourth incarnation of the new millennium, the ultimate surf shop team challenge is coming to a beach near you this summer. From Kewalos to Sebastian Inlet, with five regional events and a $10,000 winner-take-all championship in the California sun, the Quiksilver Surf Shop Challenge is once again ready to showcase brilliant local talent. Originally conceived to provide a fun, competitive format to the hardest of the hardcore surf shop surf teams, the SURFER Shop Team Challenge was one of the most anticipated contest events of the early 1980s. Taking place exclusively in Southern California, the Shop Challenge was an annual opportunity to put sales numbers aside and settle the score in the water.

Bridging the gap from that era of pink wetsuits and new wave music, the Shop Challenge has now emerged as one of the hottest contest circuits all year. You think those pros went hard back in the day? Put a colored jersey on a shop rat, give him 15 minutes to release all that energy pent up from sitting behind the counter, mix in the already-intense regional competition between surf shops, and you have all the makings of a battle royale.

The best part is, the competition starts this week as the Northeast (Maine to South Carolina) and Southeast (Texas to Georgia) regional events begin April 12th and 13th respectively. With local powerhouses like WRV in Virginia Beach going up against New Jersey’s own Brave New World, and with historically successful Sunrise and Quiet Flight surf shops battling for home turf in Florida, the performance level and excitement will be higher than ever in 2007. In fact last year, it was Jacksonville’s Sunrise Surf Shop that defeated two-time Southeast regional champs, Quiet Flight, to earn a trip to the National Championships in California. And it was there the boys from Sunrise surprised everyone and took home the coveted grand prize. Look for both shops to be hungry as ever this year.

The competition will be fierce as more than 80 teams compete across five regions for a chance to take the glory home for their shop. If that’s not motivation enough, the winning team from each of the four regions (South Carolina to Maine, Texas to Georgia, all of California, and Hawaii) gets to duke it out for the overall title during the Championships this September for a $10,000 winner-take-all prize purse, an all expense paid surf trip for five, an Aviso carbon fiber surfboard and a full-page color ad in SURFER Magazine!

Surf Shops are at the center of the industry and our surfing lives, keeping us stoked and in the water. But so often their contributions are overlooked. That said the QSSC is a great opportunity to put the employees and local pros dedicated to keeping us supplied on a big stage to duke it out for bragging rights and cold, hard cash. Stay tuned to SurferMag.com for additional updates and check out the QSSC homepage for more info.