In 2010, The South Bay Surf Series was created by the SBBC’s initial Surf Series Committee which included Mike Balzer, Matt Walls, Wright Adaza, Shaun Burrell, Charlie Carver, Mark Theodore, and Doug Somers. Matt Walls and Wright Adaza continue today as Director and Co-Director. One objective of the Surf Series is to provide a local, top quality venue for young and older surfers to compete and hone their skills. Most important, these events are intended to nurture and build our local surfing community, while bringing like-minded people together for a fun day at the beach.

The very first Surf Series contest was held in fog at El Porto and the only equipment we had to run the contest included a cell phone for the clock/timer, a horn to notify competitors when a heat started and its 5 minute warning, a megaphone for announcements, some clipboards, one pop-up tent, a few chairs and folding tables.
Over the years, the Surf Series has evolved in its design, infrastructure, and the demographics of those who compete. Most of today’s competitors are under the age of 18, whereas the initial contests had primarily adults. We are very proud of the growing number of groms (youngsters) competing in our contests, as well as having both male and female entrants. Watching these groms grow and develop their surfing skills over the years has been absolutely incredible and we are firm believers the Surf Series plays a role in their progress.

Each contest is comprised of 11 divisions from Micro Grom Assist (kids under 9 years old being pushed into whitewater by a parent, coach, or volunteer) to Legends (50 years old and older). This includes an open longboard division and open women’s division. These contests are family friendly, inclusionary, and ultimately a fun day at the beach for everyone. Most people who show up (volunteers, parents, competitors, friends of competitors) have made new friends at the contests and get together for a surf or other activities outside of the contests.

The infrastructure changes we made over the years focused on improved efficiency, accuracy, and minimizing our carbon footprint. These changes include providing 10 gallons of fresh water, sponsored by HippyTree, for reusable water bottles, electronic scoring and iPads for judges, a large electronic digital clock and horn, solar panels to power the contests eliminating the need for a gas-powered generator. We have also added multiple pop-up tents, tables, chairs, expanded judges from 3 to 6 in order to run north and south contest areas simultaneously, purchased a trailer to store and haul all of our contest equipment, as well as a wagon to help haul equipment across the sandy beach. Needless to say, a lot has changed, and we continue to look at areas for improvement based on feedback we receive from volunteers, parents, and competitors.

It is important to note that the success of the South Bay Surf Series would not have been possible without the support of our long term title sponsor, Subaru Pacific, our founding sponsor Beach Cities Orthopedics, Kinecta Federal Credit Union, Dive N’ Surf, ET Surfboards, Spyder Surfboards, Jacks, Watermans, Easy Reader, Adaza Electric and numerous other local businesses who have supported us throughout the years by hosting a contest or contributing funds and product.

In addition to our sponsors, another critical component to the contests success is our reliable list of volunteers who haul and set up equipment at 6:30am and break it down at the end of a long day, our office staff who track and tally scores all day long, the LA County Lifeguards who ensure our safety, and various vendors who provide support services. We are grateful for all of you!