NSSA - National Scholastic Surfing Association

The National Scholastic Surfing Association (NSSA) is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to encourage and assist its members in their interest to learn and develop the fundamentals and skills of surfing competition while competing in structured and quality events. The NSSA promotes the qualities of discipline and competitive excellence while supporting the merits of academic achievement to young surfers. The NSSA strives to provide a fun surfing experience for all of its members.

The NSSA is one of the few national youth sports organizations that require its participants to maintain academic standards in order to compete. Since 1978, the NSSA program philosophy has been that athletics and scholastics go hand in hand. More than 80 NSSA events are run nationwide that culminate with the annual National Championships which is regarded as the highest profile youth surfing event in America.


Southwest Open Season event #2 goes off at Huntington Beach Pier!

Tuesday, September 30, 2014 | Written by Janice Aragon

NSSA SOUTHWEST CONFERENCE

OPEN SEASON EVENT #2

HUNTINGTON BEACH PIER

SEPTEMBER 27-28, 2014

CONDITIONS: SCATTERED CHEST HIGH SHOREBREAK PEAKS.  

MAN ON MAN OPEN MENS FINALISTS KEI KOBAYASHI AND NOAH COLLINS  photo: Aragon

(Huntington Beach, Ca – September 30, 2014) – the Southwest Conference Open Season headed to Surf City USA for the second stop of the 2014-15 season on September 27-28 on the southside of the Huntington Beach Pier. Chest high shorebreak peaks were on offer with conditions ranging from morning high-tide fun and glassy hollow runners to afternoon low-tide windy sectiony shoulders. The newly implemented man-on-man competition format was run in the Mens semifinals and final heats. Kei Kobayashi, local boy Kirk Weissinger, event #1 winner Nolan Rapoza and South Bay standout Noah Collins advanced to the semis. Kobayashi and Collins advanced to the finals and Kobayashi was successful in taking the victory, his first Open triumph since winning the National Mini Grom final back in 2009! The Southwest Conference Open Season is regarded as the leading competition for west coast surfers. Divisions are offered in Men’s, Juniors, Boys, Mini Groms, Womens and Girls. This event was the first of 10 events in the Southwest Conference Open Season series. The NSSA Open Season is open to student surfers only.  

  

KEI DIALS IN THE TRICKY HB SHOREBREAK CONDITIONS!  photo: Steinmetz

Highlights from Southwest Conference Open Season opening weekend:

--San Clemente’s Kei Kobayashi snapped his winless Open drought since taking the National Mini Grom title back in 2009 by taking a very convincing victory in the Open Men’s final. What was more rewarding was Kobayashi’s last minute heroics against HB local boy Kirk Weissinger in the semifinals where he took the win in the final 20 seconds of the heat with a clutch 6.5 score.

--Manhattan Beach’s Noah Collins deserves big props for his strong surfing display all weekend advancing to the man-on-man final in a semifinal victory over Oceanside Open winner Nolan Rapoza.

--San Diego’s Ryland Rubens is starting off the year in razor sharp form. After a third place finals showing in Juniors and a super impressive semifinal placing in the Mens at the season opener in Oceanside, Rubens was in solid form in HB’s tricky shorebreak peaks winning every heat in the Juniors and taking the win in the final. Nick Marshall took second followed by Taro Watanabe and Sean Woods. Rubens’ win will vault him to the top of the Juniors leaderboard

--The Boys final was a hard fought showdown between red-hot shredders Jett Schilling, Jabe Swierkocki, Taro Watanabe and Kade Matson. Schilling edged out Swierkocki for his first win in Open Boys comp.

--In the Mini Groms, 9-year-old Callahan Corn claimed his second straight victory in a close decision over Dax McPhillips. Cole McCaffray took third followed by Hayden Rodgers.

--Reigning conference champion Tia Blanco took her second consecutive win in Womens competition and her title defense campaign is starting off strong. Blanco was in high form utilizing solid technique in the challenging dumping shorebreak peaks. In a tight battle for the win, Steffi Kerson took second by a mere .03 fraction of a point behind Blanco and Frankie Harrer trailed in third by less than a point. Young Tiare Thompson surfed impressively making the Open Womens final placing fourth.

--In the Girls final, San Clemente’s Kirra Pinkerton put together a strong performance sealing her first win in Open competition followed by Tiare Thompson in second, Alyssa Spencer taking third and Bethany Zelasko placing fourth.

TARO BRINGS IT ON IN HB!  photo: Steinmetz

--A well-deserved shout out goes to Taro Watanabe for bringing his “A” game to HB. The hard working 12-year-old from Malibu came back this season with greatly improved skills over the summer break. He stepped up at this event with a big-time Open Juniors final showing and made his first Open Boys final of the season. Heat after heat, Watanabe was unleashing some serious turns for a kid his age and the entire beach was taking notice!

--Kei Kobayashi was named NSSA “Surfer of the Week” for the week of September 28th for grinding it out and showing exceptional versatility in an assortment of HB conditions while scoring his first premier Open result in five years! Every Surfer of the Week in the 2014/15 West Coast Season wins killer head phones compliments of Scosche!

TIA MAKES IT TWO STRAIGHT!  photo: Steinmetz

The NSSA Southwest Conference is proud to have support from Huntington Surf and Sport, Java Point, Surfing Magazine, Sex Wax, Scosche and Channel Islands. Many thanks to the City of Huntington Beach, HB lifeguards and the NSSA staff for assisting us in staging a professional quality event to kick off the elite Southwest Open Season series. And a big shout out to commentators Malik Schilling and Christian Saenz for calling the action at the season opener.

COMING UP IN CALI: The NSSA will head north to the chilly waters of Morro Bay for Gold Coast Explorer event #5 on Saturday, October 4th and Northwest Conference Open Season opening day on Sunday, October 5th. The Southwest Conference Open Season will continue with the third stop of the series at San Diego’s jewel Seaside Reef on October 11-12.

RYLAND MOVES TO THE TOP OF THE JUNIORS RANKINGS!  photo: Steinmetz

THE SCOREBOARD

RESULTS

SOUTHWEST CONFERENCE OPEN SEASON EVENT #2

HUNTINGTON BEACH PIER

SEPTEMBER 27-28, 2014

OPEN MENS – MAN ON MAN FORMAT

1. Kei Kobayashi-San Clemente 10.54

2. Noah Collins-Manhattan Beach 9.40

OPEN JUNIORS

1. Ryland Rubens-Pacific Beach 14.60

2. Nick Marshall-Encinitas 10.83

3. Taro Watanabe-Malibu 9.10

4. Sean Woods-Thousand Oaks 7.47

OPEN BOYS

1. Jett Schilling-San Clemente 10.47

2. Jabe Swierkocki-Ventura 9.73

3. Taro Watanabe-Malibu 8.93

4. Kade Matson-San Clemente 8.27

OPEN MINI GROMS

1. Callahan Corn-Del Mar 8.04

2. Dax McPhillips-San Clemente 7.80

3. Cole McCaffray-Cardiff 7.46

4. Hayden Rodgers-Laguna Beach 6.43

OPEN WOMENS

1. Tia Blanco-Oceanside 10.93

2. Steffi Kerson-Thousand Oaks 10.90

3. Frankie Harrer-Malibu 9.47

4. Tiare Thompson-La Jolla 6.63

OPEN GIRLS

1. Kirra Pinkerton-San Clemente 9.66

2. Tiare Thompson-La Jolla 6.93

3. Alyssa Spencer-Carlsbad 5.77

4. Bethany Zelasko-Dana Point 5.50

AIRSHOW

1. Colt Ward-San Clemente

2. Sean Woods-Thousand Oaks

3. Jordan Collins-Carlsbad

4. Nick Marshall-Encinitas

PERFORMERS OF THE EVENT

Kei Kobayashi-San Clemente

Taro Watanabe-Malibu