by Tom Horton, South Bay Boardriders Club President
This past year, our 9-year-old, all volunteer club launched nearly a dozen new activities in support of our mission “to introduce families, youth, and our community to all aspects of ocean activities, and to being guardians of our local shoreline.” The new activities were in addition to our core, 7-contest South Bay Surf Series, held this past winter with a minimal amount of rescheduling, despite the winter’s weak surf.
The new activities for the club included:
- SBBC Surf Team – 24 South Bay male and female surfers of varying ages competing as a team in the Northern Division of the West Coast Board Riders competitions including teams all the way to Santa Cruz.
- SBBC Scholarship Fund: awarded four high school graduates with financial scholarships to pursue college, trade school, or whatever calls them to create a rewarding future for themselves and others.
- Girls Surf Day: a day at the beach exclusively for girls and young women to encourage them to empower each other, encourage surfing as an activity, and celebrate being women.
- Pints Above Plastics: fundraiser for the South Bay chapter of the Surfrider Foundation at Watermans to support ocean environment efforts.
- The “Introduction” Series: introducing SBBC members and non-members to ocean activities including:
- Scuba Diving
- Outrigger Canoe Paddling
- Sailing
- Deep Sea Fishing
- Prone Paddleboarding (in addition to the Velzy-Stevens Pier 2 Pier race):
- Sponsored the South Bay Paddle – a 15 mile qualifier for the Catalina Classic
- Created SBBC relay teams that competed in the Rock 2 Rock 22-mile Paddleboard Race
- Catalina Classic Commemorative Statue: coordinating efforts with the City of Manhattan Beach to install a statue near the Manhattan Beach Pier to commemorate this historic “right of passage” event for watermen and waterwomen.
- Surfer Down: hosted a fundraiser event at the Comedy Magic Club to support the Avery Family whose two children were diagnosed with brain cancer, just a few weeks apart. The event raised over $13,000.
- Website Reboot: a big thanks to Todd Wanke and Michael Cruz for the endless hours spent rebuilding what promises to be a top notch website, offering ease of use, speed, efficiency, and low maintenance.
It could not have happened without the support of our sponsors and members. Most of all I want to express my deep appreciation and gratitude to those of you who volunteered at our events.
To those of you who are not members we hope you will consider joining our club. And if you are searching for an organization to make a tax deductible donation to, please consider donating to the South Bay Boardrider’s Club, a 501c3 non-profit, so that we can continue our contributions to the South Bay community. To become a member, or to make a donation, visit SouthBayBoardriders.com
In partnership,
Tom Horton
President, Board of Directors
South Bay Boardriders Club
