Team News

PacSun USA Surf Team hosts Peruvian counterparts for international scrimmage

Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 17 June, 2010 : - - San Juan Capistrano -- Surfing America, the national governing body for surfing in the United States, is pleased to announce that the Peruvian Junior Surfing Team, including seven boys and two girls, all under age 18, arrived from Lima Tuesday to train with the PacSun USA Surf Team in a friendly scrimmage and cultural exchange.

Joint training sessions started today--with the scrimmage being held in the afternoon on June 20th, in conjunction on with the Surfing America USA Championships in Huntington Beach.
 
Having a contest for the top youth surfers of the USA and Peru was the brainchild of Samuel Davila, Vice President for International Affairs of the Peruvian Chamber of Commerce of California (PCCC) and PacSun USA Surf Team Coach Ian Cairns.

The Peruvian Chamber of Commerce of California is a Non-profit Mutual Benefit Corporation, founded in the City of Los Angeles on June 24, 1977.  Its main purpose is to promote trade and friendship between the country of Peru and the State of California.  perucalifornia.com.

"Surfing America is honored to host these young Peruvian athletes," said Mike Gerard, Surfing America's executive director and vice president of the International Surfing Association.  "Providing special experiences like this for young athletes is what drives Surfing America's mission.  We did a similar event with Australia in 2007 and it proved to be extremely successful. 

In addition to competing in the water, this is a chance for kids on both teams to interact with their peers from another country and enrich their lives culturally as a result."
 
Peruvian photographer Raul Cabada will be creating an archive for surfing historians and enthusiasts by photographing the entire competition.  Last October, Cabada photographed the PCCC's dinner and entertainment evening honoring Alejandro "Alex" Olmedo, a native of Arequipa, Peru, on the 50th anniversary of becoming the first Hispanic winner of the Wimbledon men's tennis championship. 

Ian Cairns, coach of the PacSun USA Surf Team, believes these type of events are a critical element to the experience of being on any national team.  "One of the driving forces behind my decision to Coach the PacSun USA Surf Team was to create experiences like this for the kids. 

As I reflect back on my experiences as a young surfer, I realize how much better off I am having traveled the world and developed friendships with like minded people everywhere.  This is not just about competition in the water.  It's about life experience for these kids; it's creating an appreciation for other cultures and making these team kids more well rounded human beings." 
 
This year's USA Championships event will be held in two locations:  Huntington Beach Pier from June 19-21 and Lower Trestles at San Onofre State Park in San Clemente, CA from June 23-28.
 
The Huntington Beach dates (June 19-21) will include all preliminary rounds of competition for the following Adult and Longboard Divisions:
 
Mens
Womens
Masters
Seniors
Legends
Junior Longboard
Mens Longboard
Senior Longboard
Girls Longboard
Womens Longboard
 
The Lower Trestles dates will include the Final Round of the Adult and Longboard Divisions (June 23) above as well as all rounds of the following Under 18 Shortboard Divisions (June 23-28):
 
Boys Under 18
Boys Under 16
Boys Under 14
Boys Under 12
Girls Under 18
Girls Under 16
Girls Under 14
Girls Under 12
 
The Lower Trestles dates will be available to watch Live online via the Verizon Live Webcast at surfingamerica.org The 2011 PacSun USA Surf Team will be officially announced on the evening of June 28th. In addition, Surfing America has partnered up with Project Save our Surf and its celebrtity SURF 24 event on June 19-20 during the Huntington Beach event window.  projectsaveoursurf.com
 
www.surfingamerica.org
www.perucalifornia.com


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