How I came to be the surfer, competitor, and the person I am today.
The ocean has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember.
When I was roughly 6 years old, my father pulled me off his back and taught me how to surf. My two older brothers were already surfing, and well, I of course wanted to try everything they did.
While I loved taking waves in the warm summer water, it wasn't until I was 11 that I truly fell in love with surfing. My father gave me my first longboard as a Christmas gift, and we started surfing Doheny State Beach more frequently. That is when I met a group of fellow groms that would become my community.
We were called the, “Jetty Rats.” Sunrise to sunset, every summer day, weekend, or holiday, you could find us gathering on the Doheny jetty; skating, wrestling, jumping off the rocks, and of course, surfing. In fact, the only phone number I gave out at the end of the school year, was the nearby pay phone.
Nearly everybody in the jetty crew belonged to the Doheny Longboard Surfing Association (DLSA). Thus, it was only fitting that my father and I joined as well.
I was 12 when I competed in my first surf contest- the 1998 DLSA Menehune. I took 5th place and was simply stoked to make the final. The next contest I competed in was the 1999 DLSA Menehune. I took 5th place again. However, this time it lit a competitive fire under my feet.
While it was only my second surf contest, I wasn’t new to competition. I grew up playing baseball with the boys, club soccer, and had my hand (or foot) in pretty much every sport I could. Thus, at this point, something turned on inside of me- I didn’t want to just compete in surf contests, I wanted to win surf contests.
Fall of 1999, I entered high school. While my afternoons and weekends were quite busy competing on the soccer, volleyball, and track and field teams, any free time I had was spent splashing around in the ocean with my fellow Jetty Rats.
Once more of us could drive, we started surfing all around Southern California. Contrary to other sports, surfing never felt like “practice” or “work” to me. My only form of “training,” was watching what the boys were doing, and like a younger sibling- always trying to do the same or better.
I found consistent success in surf competitions and some of my fondest memories were during these years of competing in the Coalition of Surf Clubs alongside my best friends from up and down the coast.
I entered my first professional competition when I was 17 years old. I flew to Cocoa Beach, Florida with two of my best girl friends (and fellow competitors) as a high school graduation trip. It was the 2003 ASP (Association of Surfing Professionals) Ron John event. I finished 2nd and was happy with my performance. With it, I earned a little bit of money, but more influentially, I had one of the best times of my life and was interested in more.
In a sport that spans across the seven seas, competing in Florida wasn’t too far from home. But the experience of traveling, surfing new waves, and meeting new people that shared the same passion; I knew this was something I wanted more of in my life.
That being said, it would have to wait.
Earlier in my senior year, I had earned a soccer scholarship to UCSB. While soccer and my studies became a top priority, I still managed to compete in many of the North American events and continue my success in professional surf competitions throughout North America and Hawaii.
After suffering injuries during my second season at UCSB, that would ultimately end my soccer career, I took a semester to study abroad in Australia. It was then that I entered my first international competition-The Noosa Surfing Festival.
My desire to travel, surf, and compete around the world was ignited. I returned home to finish my Kinesiology degree at San Diego State University (SDSU). I was again able to balance a career in professional longboarding while completing my studies on campus. In fact, I ended up paying a large portion of my master’s degree program with the money earned and saved from my surf competitions.
2004 Big West Conference Champions (First time in UCSB Women’s Soccer History).
Flash forward to 2008. I had just graduated SDSU, and by this time I had competed on the ASP North American Longboard Tour for nearly 5 years. While I wasn’t able to compete in all the events due to alternate commitments, I had my handful of victories, claimed the 2006 ASP North American title and was proud to finish in the top 5 of the ASP rankings each year.
2007 had marked my first appearance in a ASP World Championship event-The Roxy Jam, Biarritz, France. Unfortunately, I fell early in the competition and would have to fight my way back the following year.
By the end of 2008, I was burnt out. I didn't have the same focus to compete or enough ambition to deal with “everything” that comes with surf competitions, and I needed a little break.
Thus, 2009 was primarily dedicated to completing my Masters degree, and taking some surf trips just for fun. I inevitably fell back in love with the sport and was ready for more once again. That being said, nothing could have prepared me for what was coming.
2010 was the year my life changed forever. My father fell terminally ill and my world turned upside down. To put it simply, he was everything to me: father, mentor, role model, best friend, and biggest fan. My mother passed when I was baby. And despite being a full-time high school teacher and coach, with three young children, my father still managed to make it to nearly all of our sporting events and extra curricular activities over the years.
Near the end of spring 2010, he was too sick to make it to the local ASP North American event. I didn't tell him this prior-because I knew he wouldn’t want me to put any pressure on myself- but I told myself I would win this contest for him. And I did. I remember walking up the beach after the event, calling him to tell him the news with tears streaming down my face.
He passed away a few months later. But before he did, he made me promise that if I won the North American tour that year, and thus became qualified for the Women’s World Longboard tour once again, that I would go.
I in fact won the North American tour shortly after he passed and earned a spot on the 2011 Women’s Longboard World Tour. While I soon fell into the darkest time of my life, I kept my promise and flew to Biarritz, France to compete in the first event of the 2011 world tour. I had no expectations, just a dedication to my father that I would try my best and try to have some fun; the two things he always told me before my competitions.
Hainan, China, 2011- Taking my first World Title
The 2011 Roxy Jam Biarritz would become my first ASP World Tour event victory. Concluding the tour in Hainan, China, I was crowned the 2011 Women’s Longboard World Champion. It was something I had surely dreamed about, but never expected to manifest in such a way.
Since then I have remained on the Women’s Longboard World Tour, consistently finishing amongst the top 10 rankings. I currently continue to compete in events around the world while balancing my full-time job as a community college kinesiology professor, lead yoga instructor, and head surf team coach.
I’d be lying to say, I haven’t debated “retiring” from such a high level of competition in recent years. But my 2nd place finish at the 2017 WSL (Formerly ASP) World Longboard Championships, followed by my 2018 Relik Women’s Longboard World Title- and all the good times surrounding the travel and events with my friends from around the world- have kept me motivated!
My life outside of surfing has continued to take all sorts of turns in the last decade. I’ve hit plenty of highs and plenty of lows. But ever since that pivotal year in 2010, one thing that has remained consistent, is my perspective on making the most of life, and my love for traveling, surfing, competing, and connecting with people from around the world that share the same passions.