Surfers Are The Most Uneducated Professional Athletes In America (maybe the world)

There are bunch of posts I have in my "Draft" box. They include the Paumalu Murder (and my reaction to Ian Lind's great insights about the coverage), my predictions for the future of Kahuku and Laie, why the Hawaii Tourism industry is in distress and some other nuggets.

What got me to take the topic of uneducated surfers off of the Draft pile was the article I read about Surfing Groms in the Sunday Honolulu Advertiser.

I have to disclose that while my family surfs, their passions have been football, soccer, basketball, swimming and my nephew the golf nut. So, while I am going to put some startling questions out there about education and surfing, it is not because I do not like athletics. I just think that surfers as a group/family have really got some issues with priorities and education.

The uneducated surfer phenomena could go a long way toward explaining the bizarre, wacko thought process of the ex pat California surfers and their kin who seem to dominate the dialogue over in the Sunset Beach area. They protest development while almost all of them who don't make money off of surfing are involved in laboring trades that involve construction and development (they probably did not go to far in their educational pursuits). They are too uneducated to understand the hypocrisy of that stance.

Instead of me running on and on I'll ask some questions and state some observations. Here we go.

• - How many Pro Surfers have graduated from college? (I can't think of any men and one woman).
• - How many Pro Surfers are high school grads? (I believe most are not).
• - How many grom surfers with their parents blessing and encouragement have blown off school to go surf when the waves are good? Under that vein, how many basketball, football, soccer, gymnastics, volleyball, baseball, football, etc. players blow off school to go play? My guess is not many because they would get kicked off the team. Contrast that with ANY CONTEST day on the North Shore and you'll see tons of groms like the ones in the Advertiser article at the beach, when school is in session. No wonder they grow up like their parents - ignorant but very opinionated.
• - How many professional surfers are able to make a decent living off of surfing? Maybe 50? Contrast that with how many athletes, organizations, schools, leagues, etc are able to sustain an economic structure in their respective sports.
• - How much does the surfing professional culture give back? Almost nothing, they are more about exploitation of kids. They give them stickers and an occasional board. Can you even imagine the outcry if a freaking 8 year old football player was given MONEY and the parents were happy about it? IT IS CRAZY THAT IT HAPPENS, IT IS SINFUL THAT THE PARENTS PURSUE THIS. I have a tremendous respect for Randy R. he really tries to give money back to charities. He gives a few thousand dollars each year to Sunset Beach El for hosting Surf Night. In contrast the "Evil Empire" Turtle Bay Resort has given away almost $500,000 since 2002 from their golf tournaments alone and have done it without fanfare, look it up.
• - There is no punishment for the these baby professionals in terms of being educated. They get paid if they go to school or not. If the waves are good, these parents think their kids should be in the water, not in the classroom with their peers who play other sports. Those other sports kids have to keep up grades in order to play. For many sports they have to go to college to pursue the next level. Surfers do not even have to graduate from Grammar School.

It is easy to see how this cycle of under education can be harmful. All kids dream and should be somewhat delusional in what they strive to achieve. That is healthy. But delusional parents are dangerous, especially when they damage their kids futures based on a very slim chance of success in a sport with limited opportunities.

The exploitation of the kids by the surf industry should stop. The parents who support this abuse should be arrested.