Surfing is a team Sport? It can be!!

Surfing is a team sport, independently…. Or it can be if you like!

In our group text the night before we had decided to meet at Otter rock at 8 AM. We were all coming from different places and would arrive at roughly the same time so decided to surf together. When I was getting ready that morning, (which was particularly early for me on any given morning at about 7 AM) my friend texted from the parking lot. “I’m the first car and the coffee shop is closed. Now I have no caffeine and no fuel. I think I might leave. UGH.”

“Don’t leave!” I immediately replied, “I am making coffee. I will bring you one and I have lots of food. I will be there in 15 minutes.”

Of course I wanted to bring my friend food, I did not want her to leave. We hadn’t surfed together all summer! I love surfing with my girlfriends. I love being in the water with them and I love watching them win. We all surf individually and I know that many people go surfing alone, almost exclusively… But I am not this person and part of my joy of surfing comes from spending time With my friend group; in and out of the water.

We all made our way down the 100 stairs to the beach and finished putting on our wetsuits, gloves, hoods and warming up. “Do you have wax?” I asked a friend. Not all of us are 100% prepared and sometimes we need help to make it happen! One time I forgot my leash and my girlfriend helped me ask ppl on the beach if I could borrow one.

We looked at the water talked about where would be the best place to paddle out; since the waves were so tiny, we needed to be strategic. we entered the water in roughly the same place, but soon spread out to wherever the water took us or where we could fit in among the many other people. Again, you can absolutely do this alone. But it’s another part of being a team, that benefit of talking through everything out loud and cheering each other on in the water.

Sometimes the joy comes from traveling there together, talking on the way there and or back. One on one getting to know each other more intimately than you would in a car full of people, or just sitting on the beach for a few minutes before and after Surf session.

It’s a miracle that many of us have remained friends over the years. We all met because we wanted to have other women to surf with, in a literal sea full of men. Some of us live hours away from the big city some of us at the coast. Some of us work a lot and some of us hardly at all. But we come together a few times a year or more, and our friendships pervade!

At times, surfing or being in the water of any kind has brought me so much healing and joy that is one of the only things I can think of doing, when I’m going through a challenging time. I spend so much of my time planning trips to go surfing, being in the water, being on those trips or driving to the ocean. This all leaves little time left for other extracurricular activities that involve my friends who don’t Surf, or enjoy the outdoors as much as I do. It’s an obsession which can be hard to explain to my loved ones who don’t surf.

No matter what, when that beautiful day comes together, and I can meet a few of my girlfriends, Surf  until our arms feel like they’ll fall off, laugh in the water laugh on the beach, get a little sunburned and maybe grab a bite to eat after. It equals a beautiful equation of a mental health day, a social activity and working on our physical health.

There’s not many activities like this. Yes you can get together with friends and go for a run or a hike or kayak or paddleboard! But the mental health benefits of surfing have been scientifically proven to be unique in their design, to get us into that flow state of joy, creativity, And peace.

Something about that combination makes surfing an addictive sport. That day in the water as I stared out over the ocean forming little bumps coming our way endlessly, I likened surfing to an addiction to cocaine. Just one more wave; we always laugh… just one more bump!

After just one more wave became “I physically can’t surf anymore” we all got out of the water. We all had different places to go at different times and different energy levels for further social interaction. Three of our friends had to leave for responsibilities. Which left two of us with the ability to go out to an early dinner.

Over dinner, we discussed our day of surfing, jobs, relationships, and the benefits of not drinking alcohol anymore. As we sipped our delicious mocktails and waited for our somewhat healthy food to arrive, we recounted the benefits of how physically good we felt and how physically good we wanted to feel Before and after surfing. And how not partaking in drinking, helps us achieve more of our goals in life and surfing.

Not only is surfing a team sport, but we are all positively influence each other. Like not drinking! And On the beach that day we all committed to registering for the local longboard competition at the end of September. This would give us something to train for. It’s not a competition in the way, we try to beat each other when we’re in the water. Everyone cheers each other on.

It’s a competition for us to make ourselves better,  to increase our own physical endurance, skill and understanding of the sport. And our comfort in the water gets to increase, because no matter what the conditions may be when we are in the actual competition, we fucking paddle out!

So much in the way surfing is a team sport in the Olympics, it’s also an individual sport because you can always surf alone. but dude, why?? I will if no one is available of course. But it’s so much more fun and satisfying surrounded by a team💜