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 EVENT 4 SCORES FANTASTIC CONDITIONS AT CHURCH!

Wednesday, November 19, 2014 | Written by Janice Aragon

NSSA SOUTHWEST CONFERENCE

OPEN SEASON EVENT #4

CHURCH, SAN ONOFRE STATE PARK

NOVEMBER 15-16, 2014

CONDITIONS: CLEAN AND RIPPABLE CHEST TO SHOULDER HIGH RIGHTS WITH OCCASIONAL GOOD LEFTS

JONAH PIERCE                                                                                         photo: Steinmetz

SAMANTHA SIBLEY                                                                   photo: Steinmetz

(Huntington Beach, Ca – November 19, 2014) – the Southwest Conference Open Season headed to the Church’s surf break in the world renowned San Onofre State Park for the fourth stop of the 2014-15 season on November 15-16. Consistent chest to shoulder high rippable righthanders peeled off the cobblestone point along with a few amazing lefts and clean conditions. The solid surf provided quality opportunity for the NSSA kids to push the envelope and they did with tons of scores posting in the excellent range. The man-on-man competition format successfully continues to be implemented in the Mens semifinals and final heats. A dream came true for Jonah Pierce who recently relocated to San Diego from California’s central coast when he claimed victory in the prestigious Open Mens division, which as a matter of fact was his first career NSSA win. San Clemente local boy Conner Dand was flairing up heat after heat in familiar waters placing runner up for his biggest result of the season thus far. 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. 

  

KADE MATSON                                                                         photo: Steinmetz

Highlights from Southwest Conference Open Season event #4:

**San Diego’s Jonah Pierce put forth what was his biggest performance as an amateur taking the win in the premier Open Mens division. Pierce matched up with San Clemente’s Conner Dand in the man-on-man final.

 **San Diego’s Ryland Rubens continues his Juniors finals hot streak taking his third straight victory and a perfect 4-0 record in finals appearances through four events. The 15-year-old has been in a league of his own in the Juniors division throughout the last three events. Rubens has clearly sharpened his competitive fortitude and skills which he attributes to an equipment transition to Chemistry Surfboards. Rubens’ powerful performance in the final at Church was nothing short of superb where he put forth another strong surfing display with his top two waves coming in at the excellent 9-point range.

**Rubens isn’t the only one who is boasting a perfect finals record. 12-year-old Kade Matson has a 4-0 record after another standout performance in the Open Boys where he sealed his second straight win. Matson, who is yet another hot up-and-comer from the San Clemente breeding grounds, practiced at Church everyday after school the week prior to the contest and his diligence paid off. Besides putting the hammer down in the Boys division, his finals placing in the upper division Open Juniors was very impressive.

**Kade wasn’t the only Matson who was logging practice time at Church the week prior. Younger brother Dane was out there every day and his hard work paid off. He put up some solid scores in the Mini Grom final claiming the first Open win of his young career!

**Samantha Sibley took her first Southwest Open win of the season with an outstanding performance in the Womens final. Sibley, who is another dedicated up-and-comer, has been competing in an abundance of NSSA events up and down the coast this season and her improving skills are evident. She posted the highest score of the final-an 8.33 which was key in securing the victory.

**In the Girls final, Alyssa Spencer took her first win of the season with a commanding 17.50 total score. Spencer dominated the heat posting two exceptional scores of 9.33 and 8.17!

RYLAND RUBENS                                                                       photo: Steinmetz

**Ryland Rubens was named NSSA “Surfer of the Week” for the week of November 16th for his dominating performance in the Juniors division for three consecutive events. Very well deserved!

DANE MATSON                                                                       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 California State Parks, Church and the NSSA staff for assisting us in staging a professional quality event for the elite Southwest Open Season series. And a big shout out to commentator Christian Saenz for calling the action.

ALYSSA SPENCER                                                                     photo: Steinmetz

COMING UP IN CALI: The NSSA will head to the popular sandbars at Newport Beach’s 54th Street for Southwest Conference event #5 on November 22-23.

THE SCOREBOARD

RESULTS

SOUTHWEST CONFERENCE OPEN SEASON EVENT #4

CHURCH, SAN ONOFRE STATE PARK

NOVEMBER 15-16, 2014OPEN MENS – MAN ON MAN FORMAT

1. Jonah Pierce-San Diego 11.50

2. Conner Dand-San Clemente 10.83

OPEN JUNIORS

1. Ryland Rubens-Pacific Beach 18.03

2. Eithan Osborne-Ventura 12.33

3. Sebastian Mendes-Agoura Hills 10.26

4. Kade Matson-San Clemente 6.34

OPEN BOYS

1. Kade Matson-San Clemente 18.50

2. Jackson Butler-Encinitas 15.73

3. Taro Watanabe-Malibu 13.20

4. Hagan Johnson-San Clemente 12.17

OPEN MINI GROMS

1. Dane Matson-San Clemente 14.33

2. Cole McCaffray-Cardiff 13.83

3. Brayden Burch-San Clemente 8.94

4. Callahan Corn-Del Mar 7.94

OPEN WOMENS

1. Samantha Sibley-San Clemente 13.00

2. Sara Kohrogi-Hermosa Beach 9.43

3. Allie Frost-San Juan Capistrano 6.46

4. Samantha Cendro-Huntington Beach 2.90

OPEN GIRLS

1. Alyssa Spencer-Carlsbad 17.50

2. Sydney Tisdel-Carlsbad 12.76

3. Bethany Zelasko-Dana Point 11.84

4. Malia Faramarzi-Encinitas 8.07

PERFORMERS OF THE EVENT

Ryland Rubens

Kade Matson