Sayulita JR SUP Team - Pacific Paddle Games 2018 - Part 1

Once again members the Sayulita JR SUP Team traveled north to the 2018 Pacific Paddle Games.  This is the second year the JR SUP Team has represented Sayulita at the biggest SUP racing competition of the year.  One year older, one year more experienced and one year stronger.  10 racers between the ages of 9 and 16 years old competed from our program from the Super Grom division up to the JR Pros division.  Last year, the team's participation was a last minute scramble to sign up and get to Dana Point California to compete.  This year the dates were on the calendar months ahead of time so the kids were focused, ready and determined to improve on last year's results.

Waiting with other Team parents, the Cawrses, for our flights in the PVR airport

We flew into LAX to stay the night before driving south to Dana Point.  We were also waiting for our friends, the Cawrses, to arrive who we were sharing a car and house with.  Just a few days prior to our departure we found out that the house that we reserved had actually been double booked and we had to scramble to find another house to rent.  That bump in the road averted we were ready to drive south on Thursday morning.  Well, not so fast. We had a large SUV rented through Turo that was big enough to haul the kid's borrowed 12'6" race boards and still carry two families and gear to and from the beach for four days.  The first car fell through so we tracked down another.  That one also fell through and we thought we might not even get to Dana Point to practice with the team later that day.  After securing a car with Turo on our 3rd attempt we had our minivan and made our way south to check into the 2nd rental house and meet up with the team in our 3rd car rental.  Whew! No worries, if there is one thing living in Mexico has taught us is to roll with the situation and make the best of it.  Ok.  Honestly, I was not all that calm about it but it all worked out in the end.  Hated to see the kids stress too.  They had more important things to be paying attention to than transportation and lodging logistics that were falling apart.

Thursday afternoon practice at Doheny Beach in small surf.

Having made it to the beach and meeting up with the team the kids were anxious to get on their borrowed boards from the local SUP race program, The Paddle Academy.  Our team trains on tired 11' race SUPs.  The boards accommodate a variety of ages and abilities.  During the race, however, the boards they would be using were 12' 6" which is a common race class size..  The kids handled the size increase very well last year but this year there was an unexpected twist.  Waves.  A storm that was well out to sea was pushing in massive surf into the California coast.  10'+ just days before we arrived.  So, the kids not only needed to paddle a much larger board they had little familiarity with but also be expected to navigate big wave conditions, surf these boards to and from the beach, around buoys and against competition.  No joke!

Coach Bicho and Trace discuss waves while Ashley and Coach Shelby talk about other things.

Practice was great with lots of energy and I think the kids and the parents finally relaxed a bit. Last year there was a bit of "smack talking" out in the water with the local Paddle Academy kids SUP race program protecting their turf but this year the kids were practicing at different points on the beach so our team moved about with few concerns like that and mixed in with some pros like Olivia Piana,  Sey Chelle and even cornered a few pros out of the water for a quick photo like Danny Ching and Candice Appleby.

Trace and his good buddies hanging out with one of SUPs best, Danny Ching.

The team with the legend, Candice Appleby.

After a busy day the practice wrapped up and kids were relaxed and stoked to have had a board on the water for an hour or so.  This particular group of kids gets along pretty well so it was great to see the oldest and youngest members of the group able to hang out and support each other.  

Coaches Bicho and Shelby and the Team.

Thursday evening was time for the pre-event parties.  The team was invited to two parties the first night.  One invite came from the coach of the local SUP race program, The Paddle Academy.  It was a cookout in the park just steps away from where the kids practiced.  The other a event was hosted by Brawner Boards, a local California custom surf board manufacturer who has taken an interest in talent from Mexico.  Damien, the owner, actually attended our practice on Thursday and visits Sayulita occasionally and is a familiar face.  He was also responsible for supplying us boards last year at the same event.

The other dad we traveled with, John, and I took our kids to make a showing at both events while the moms, Ashley and Amy, decided to cocktail back at the house.  The Paddle Academy event was already winding down when we arrived so we thanked our host, Coach Mike Eishert, for the invitation and went down the beach a ways to a local restaurant to attend the Brawner Boards event.  Before we left Alex made introductions with a girl member of the The Paddle Academy who she met through Instagram.  The meeting was brief since she was on her way home but it was great for Alex to break the ice with another teen girl who had a similar interest who she would see on the starting line during the weekend.  

                                     

We arrived at the Brawner party and the place was packed with locals, pros and all kinds of folks stoked for the weekend competition.  There was a large buffet and Damien made sure we headed that way once he saw us arrive.  Part of the team was already there and to my surprise they were chatting it up with one of the most promising teen paddlers in the US. Local 16 year old SUP athlete, Jade Howson.  Jade represented the USA at the ISA SUP World Championships in 2017 and will again this year in China.  Pretty cool to see kids being kids just hanging out together.  I forget that some of these World Class athletes are really only a couple years older than our kids plus I think she found our team fun to hang out with.

Trace exchanging Instagram account information with Jade Howson. 

The next practice day was Friday and the big waves arrived.  Big enough to make some of the kids decide that practicing that day just was not going to happen.  Where some of our kids saw something scary, others saw some FUN to be had.  Some competitors do not or are not able to train in an ocean environment.  Our kids are ocean kids and their skills in the waves were apparent as soon as they paddled out to test the water that day.  A couple of kids stayed on the beach and a couple did not even get out past the break but Alex and Trace charged out determined to get out and ride one of these monsters back in.  I was very impressed with Alex.  She desired the challenge, went after it and did great.  Trace loves waves and surfing so him paddling out with his teammates to grab a wave was predictable.  Super tough conditions for everyone out there..

"Overhead" conditions at Doheny Beach

In the first video below you can see Trace who is the second kid to the beach.  The video below that shows Alex.  Keep in mind that the boards the kids are on and that you see flying around behind them from fallen riders are 12'6" to 14' long.  It can give you a bit more perspective on just how big the surf is.  Yes, they were practicing with helmets on since they were required for youth competitors for the technical race.  The kid's timing and wave selection was good so they did not get the biggest set waves to try and ride.

The day's practice was short since the coaches did not want the kids burned up in the challenging conditions.  Tomorrow was game time.  But first, another party.  Coach Shelby told us the team had been invited to a party given by one of the parents of The Paddle Academy.  The dad of this family also has some ties to the SIC surf brand.  When we walked in it was obvious that we WERE the party.  Were we early?  There was really no one else there so the team made itself at home in a strange but lovely(and we were sure expensive) house.  Slowly some people did filter in wondering who the pack of kids was on the back patio having a good time all by themselves.  During the party we met parents from a SUP JR race program from North Carolina that we knew a little bit about.  The Wrightsville Beach Jr Elite SUP Team.  They brought 2 or 3 racers with them this year. Friendly folks and it was nice to meet other parents who were also far from home.

A dinner buffet was set out with lots of pizza and pasta as more and more people arrived so we started to blend in a bit more.  The team met up again with their newly adopted member, Jade Howson.  She sat down and happily joined the group.  Our team get along well, likes to laugh, has positive energy and obviously likes to have a good time.  I honestly think she really liked having a different group to hang out with and was drawn to that.  She took some photos with the team, played whatever game the kids were playing and soon it was time to head home.  Again,  we thanked our hosts and went home for the night.  The next morning was registration and the long distance event.