Surfers ready for team format at Steamer Lane

At 8 p.m. Tuesday night, Austin Smith-Ford returned home from a last-minute team meeting. The coach had wanted to discuss strategy and expose his players to some old game footage before today’s season opener.

Smith-Ford, a sophomore at Soquel High, had a cold and plenty of homework to keep him working late into the night as it was. Still, he attended the meeting. He didn’t want to let his team down. Plus, he’d just gotten the call up to the big leagues, and he wanted to show he’s a team player.

"I kind of feel like I’m pretty lucky to be on the team, because I’m so young," said Smith-Ford, 16. "It’s a privilege to be on it."

Team before self? Organized practices? That’s strange talk for a surfer — especially one who picked surfing over soccer because of its independent nature.

Yet this month, Smith-Ford and his 19 surfer teammates — including many of Santa Cruz County’s finest — will temporarily relinquish their independence and form the Santa Cruz Stormriders, a team that will compete for the next month and a half in the National Surf League’s California Cup series. The series begins today at 9 a.m. at Steamer Lane when the Stormriders surf a doubleheader against the Ventura County Pelicanos and the Orange County Octopus.

In its second season, the California Cup pits the NSL’s five teams against one another in a format called The Game. The Game borrows structure and rules from professional team sports like baseball and basketball and integrates them with surfing. Aside from practices and game film, there are dugouts, quarters, timeouts and team jerseys.

Altogether, The Game spells a lot of unity for some of sport’s most solitary athletes.

"Most surfers aren’t too big on the team sports. But this one is kind of different," said Kalu Coletta, the Stormriders’ coach, who added that most of his players had probably never played on an organized team before. "You’re still surfing. That’s a lot more fun, I think, than regular sports."

By JULIE JAG
Sentinel staff writer

Source: SanraCruzSentinel.com

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