SURFER Shop Team Challenge

The weekend of July 19th and 20th saw the SURFER Shop Team Challenge come to Oceanside and capture the attention of everybody on the beach. The event was run in conjunction with the Globe-Gallaz Pro and enjoyed the benefit of clean waist to shoulder high waves. When all was said and done it was Huntington Surf and Sport’s stacked team that took the cake right out of Sun Diego's mouth.

Let your hips dip and your backbone slip. photo: moses slovalizki

The SURFER Shop Team Challenge consisted of 8 surf shops, four from San Diego and four from Orange County, competing for a full page ad in SURFER, a 1,000 bucks in Globe and Gallaz product, a healthy supply of Foster's beer and bragging rights up the yin yang. The four-man shop teams were built around two team riders and two surf shop employees...or at least in theory.

Team Sun Diego throwing buckets out the back. photo: moses slovalizki

By the time the final rolled around in the afternoon it was Sun Diego versus the ever-present Huntington Surf and Sport squad. Sun Diego made a strong showing with Layen Harrison, Max Hoshino, Kyle Knox and Sean Marceron throwing it all on the line. Danny Nichols, Jay Larson, Ryan Simmons and Brad Ettinger comprised the HSS team, not too shabby of a crew either. As the heat wore down Layen Harrison made the critical mistake of going for the double whammy on a wave that, as fate would have it, ended up being the lowest scoring wave of his heat. This left the door wide open for the HSS storm troopers to take the crown. In the end HSS inched out Sun Diego by a half of a point, taking the title home to sweet home Orange County.

Ryan Simmons and team HSS takin' home the cup photo: moses slovatizki

The event went off without a hitch and everybody was stoked with how things worked out. Thanks to Killer Dana, Katin, HSS, Jacks, Sun Diego, K5 Boardriders, Surfride Oceanside and Pacific Drive for making this event such a huge success. A special thanks to PK for speaking his mind over the course of the weekend. Look for the next SURFER Shop Team Challenge coming to the East Coast someday soon. -Chuck Elliott and Jake Howard