With the sound of waves crashing in the background, members of the UCF surf club sifted through the sand of Cocoa Beach, gathering discarded cups, cigarette butts and sandwich wrappers.
The club moved carefully Saturday, collecting trash in plastic bags that were nearly half full. Cocoa officials have promised to put garbage cans at the end of the boardwalks so people on the beach will have a place to toss their trash.
Heather Lewis, Ron Jon Surf Shop's director of marketing, said Cocoa has also recently added bins for cigarette butts, but surf club members chose to get a head start on the city by pitching in to clean the beach that is so important to their activities.
About 15 club members and a few other volunteers from the community, including Ron Jon employees, arrived at 9 a.m. and worked until about 10 a.m. Each member was given his or her own pair of gloves and a trash bag.
Four times a year, roughly every three months, the surf club, Ron Jon employees and Cocoa Beach community members get together to maintain the cleanliness of their beloved beach.
"Since it's so crowded," Lewis said, "the beach generates trash, and we are just trying to make an effort so when people visit, it's a nice place to go."
Lewis was not the only one who felt this way. Surf club members were also excited to participate and help keep their beach clean.
"I'm glad we do stuff like this," said Hailey Winslow, a senior broadcast journalism major and newly elected surf team alternate. "I feel like I never help the environment anymore, and I like doing something helpful."
After the cleaning ended, members sat down to discuss their upcoming schedule of events.
The past two weekends, tryouts have been held to determine which members will lead the surf team to nationals. Six women and 18 men are given spots on the actual team each year.
Although the phrases are used interchangeably, the UCF surf "club" and the "team" are distinct. The club is not competitive; it is a gathering of people with the same interest. The team is much more competitive and travels the country to compete against various schools throughout the year.
But the team is made up of people from the club.
The team has placed at least second at regionals the past three years, competing against teams from schools such as the University of Florida and Florida State University. They have gone to nationals in California every year for the past 10 years.
Ron Jon Surf Shop sponsors all the entry fees for the team's competitions and takes care of all travel expenses for nationals, which include airfare, car rental and hotel costs.
"We also hold concerts at places like the Liquid Cellar to promote local bands and help pay some of the expenses so our sponsors don't have to," surf team captain Todd Rhoten, a civil engineering major, said.
Members said they were thankful to have gracious sponsors that allow them to focus on surfing and team building instead of worrying about money.
Team members said they felt the surf team does not receive enough credit, even though the team has been so successful at competitions.
Laurent Domaingue, an industrial engineering major, moved to Florida from Mauritius, Africa, a small island outside of Madagascar.
"I looked at Georgia Tech and a bunch of other schools like that, but this was the only place with a Web site for their surf team," Domaingue said. Domaingue said his choice for choosing a college was very easy considering UCF's esteemed engineering program and amazing surf team.
Even though the team has a limited number of spaces, the club is open to all students. Meetings are held almost every Tuesday at 9 p.m. in Business Administration, Room 119. The club Web site, www.surfucf.com, maintains an updated schedule.
Rhoten said that interested students, even ones with little-to-no surfing experience, are encouraged to join the club. The team holds random clinics to teach inexperienced surfers the ins and outs of the sport.
"Anyone is allowed to come to our meetings," Winslow said. "Just show up at 9 on Tuesday nights."
Be the first to comment on this article!