JACKSONVILLE, Fla — The University of North Florida’s Surf Team is gearing up for the National Scholastic Surfing Association (NSSA) National Championships this week.
The team will be heading to Huntington Beach, California. This comes after their win at the NSSA East Coast Championship in New Smyrna Beach, Florida, where the team claimed its 11th championship title placement last month.
UNF surfer Jake Whitaker shares how the team is getting ready for the upcoming competition.
“We can just feel the water, the feel, the energy, shake off the rust, go over the falls a couple of times, you know, we get a couple of days of practice before it’s on and we enjoy any wave, so we see the wave a little differently than the kids over there. So, any little waves, give it to us.”
With the help of multiple sponsors and custom t-shirt sales, the Surf team brings competitions like this to life.
“It’s been interesting being a part of pretty much the lifestyle of surfing, it’s pretty much the biggest sport, one of the biggest sports we have in Jacksonville, but we kind of get treated as like a club. So, what we do, we have to kind of go out of our way to find sponsors and fund the team to support our trips because we are an athletic team that goes and competes, and we love the sport. Hopefully this kind of stuff can bring more attention to the sport and lifestyle,” said Whitaker.
The Surf Team will be in California not only to compete, but also to enjoy the experience and have fun along the way.
“That’s the fun part about UNF, we just hangout and have fun. It’s not like a serious surf competition every single time. All of us are just friends, we are friends with all the other schools and everybody just hangs out and have a good time,” said UNF Surfer, Tim Arnold.
The NSSA National Championship will take place from June 13th through the 15th.
© 2023 Cox Media Group
