As the school year begins, the Aliso Niguel Surf team prepares for the season ahead following recent tryouts.
There are currently 15 returning surfers. The team captains are Maddy Chao (12) and Ezekiel Gonzalez (12). Chao is one of the two returning female surfers, alongside Nicole Fortuna (10).
Prior to the tryouts, Chao says, “I’m looking forward to having new surfers on the team and I’m hoping that more younger girls will come to tryout since I’m one of the two girls, and I’ll be gone next year.”
The tryouts were held on Aug. 28 and Sept. 3 at Salt Creek from 6:45 a.m. to 8:45 a.m. At the tryouts, five new surfers joined the team. Four of those were boys, with Ryder Demichele (9) standing out after just the first tryout. The other surfer is Camile Mckeon (12), becoming the third female surfer on the team.
Coach Mosier says the tryouts went good, but “[they] need more people…it went well for the ones [they] got.”
The team practices on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from around 6:45 a.m. to 7 a.m. The longboarders go to either Sano or Doho beach, and the shortboarders go to Strands or Salt Creek. However, sometimes they all practice together.
The practices are typically an hour and a half, where they surf and have fun to prepare for their upcoming competitions. Typically for competitions they compete at Trestles beach or San Clemente Pier, but the location can vary.
The competitions work where three surfers from each school compete in heats against one another. The judges give each surfer a score out of ten, the top two scores for each surfer being added up to the team’s total points.
Their first competition is on September 24, which is a LBHS CONTEST at Salt Creek.
