2022 HS STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS RECAP FROM COACH JOHN

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Hello Sharks,

I'm not going to sugar coat this - we got crushed!  It was a quick, sad day for our surfers and our Team, and another tough lesson in being prepared.

I am extremely proud of our athletes, you all did your best and gave it your all, I know you did.  Our first round heats were against the toughest teams in the competition (e.g., San Dieguito whom I'm guessing won the whole thing - ).  A huge congratulations goes to our Women's Longboard squad for beating the Point Loma squad, especially Whitney who won that first round heat.  Another shout out goes to Jaden for stepping up last minute to compete in Bodyboard where he and Tristan surfed really well.  But sadly the other team got a buzzer beater el rollo that outscored the entire heat.

The ocean and the competition overwhelmed the rest of our heats.  With 6' closeout sets and a ripping current that pulled the vast majority of competitors out of position, it proved too difficult for most of our surfers to handle.  I see the conditions as being the toughest aspect, we simply don't surf those big, open ocean beach break waves often enough to be prepared to win.  Yes, many of our surfers are adept in such conditions for free surfing, but being good enough to get the best waves within 15 minutes is another level.  Our competitors were simply better than us in the conditions, which isn't surprising given the type of surf those teams see on a regular basis versus us.  Point being, heavy "big" days like we saw just don't happen in Malibu very often, whereas San Diego and OC see those conditions regularly.

A final observation that also provides context is this...  While we love and appreciate the support we get from our Malibu Rotary Club and Rip Curl Malibu, the San Dieguito team hoodies had at least 25 different sponsor logos, and every one of them was a surf-related local company.  Their surfers train with pros on a regular basis, and many of them are already sponsored by big surf brands.  Facing this team was like battling Goliath, but we couldn't channel our inner David.

I'm so proud of the effort our Sharks gave.  We will now put this behind us and focus on next season.

GO SHARKS!!

~Coach John

P.S., complete results shown below.