![]() ![]() I’m excited to see their faces when they stand up.” “We’re going to get those kids standing up and give them the best possible day we can. “We want to share this experience that we enjoy with these children who may not have such an easy time learning to surf,” Spiers said. During the event students will help children with autism learn to surf. This Saturday the club will participate in Hang Ten for Autism at Siesta Key Beach. During the semester they will do beach cleanups. It was pretty perfect.”Īside from competing, the USF Surf Club also participates in volunteer work. We camped out the entire time in hammocks, just hanging out on the beach in front of these amazing waves. “We scored amazing waves, the best waves I’ve ever surfed. We went there strictly for a surf trip … we all wanted two things: to surf every day and we wanted it to be cheap…,” Campbell said. “Me and six of my friends, for spring break, went to Puerto Rico this year and we had the trip of a lifetime. “We like to play.”Ĭampbell said sometimes they will simply spend meetings hanging around in hammocks. “We do fun things at our meeting we don’t really like to talk much,” Campbell said. Spiers said fitness is important among club members and meetings usually consist of some sort of physical activity. When the club is stuck on land, they do everything from slacklining to dodgeball. “The hardest thing with surfing is actually planning for the waves, a report can look so good for like two weeks and then, on the last day, the report could change … ,” Campbell said. Their first competition of the semester is scheduled for Sunday. The club began taking part in competitions last year and it now competes about once a month. The club travels to the east coast to practice and compete, frequenting Flagler Beach, Sebastian Beach and New Smyrna. “We don’t get many Gulf waves unless there’s a storm, cold front or hurricane.” “It’s really fulfilling to see all the new beginners catch their first waves.”Ĭampbell said he is often asked where members surf because the club is based in Tampa. “Everybody wants to learn how to surf … ,” Campbell said. Interested students do not need to know how to surf to join the club in fact, Campbell said the club encourages novice surfers to join. “But it doesn’t feel like it when you’re participating because you’re just having so much fun. “It is hard, it’s insanely hard,” Spiers said. Shane Spiers, a junior majoring in biomedical sciences, has been surfing since his father introduced him to the sport. I tried it, stood up on my first wave and I’ve been hooked ever since.” “It was me and my best friend at the time we’d take beach trips every other weekend and one day he got a surfboard …,” Campbell said. It’s not really like anything else and that’s what hooks people.”Ĭampbell has been surfing since high school. ![]() “Everybody likes the feeling of actually catching a wave. “Surfing’s kind of a selfish sport,” said Justin Campbell, a senior majoring in mechanical engineering and president of the Surf Club. Now students can grab their boards and hit the beach with the Surf Club at USF. There is an idyllic image of surfing passed down from when the Beach Boys topped the charts. PHOTO PROVIDED BY ALESSANDRO CESARANO/ALESSANDRO CESARANO PHOTOGRAPHY ![]()
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