Building the Sport of Surfing
Written by SurfWriter Girls Sunny
Magdaug and Patti Kishel
Surfing has a glamorous image with daring surfers riding the
waves. Behind the glamor, though, there's more to see – the work surfers do to better
the sport, promote education, and serve the community.
No one does this better than Tom Gibbons, who has been
a coach, founder of the National Scholastic Surfing Association (NSSA) and
Huntington Beach International Surfing Museum, Surfrider Foundation HB
education chair, and much more.
Gibbons began surfing as a teen and young adult in Seal
Beach, CA, and has been surfing ever since, teaching surfing at Marina High
School in Huntington Beach and starting the surfing program at Cal State
University, Long Beach.
A believer in the importance of education and the cultural
significance of surfing, in 1978 he and other surfing coaches formed the NSSA
for amateur high school and college surfers. Along with hosting surfing
competitions, their goal was to encourage scholarship and community service.
"We wanted to improve the image of the sport,"
says Gibbons, "and have younger kids look up to surfers as role
models." The NSSA drew surfers from across the country, hosting the
first National Championships in Huntington Beach its first year.
Now the NSSA is the leading amateur surfing organization in
the U.S. Surfers who have gone through its program include Kelly Slater, Brett
Simpson, Carissa Moore and Bethany Hamilton. Gibbons adds that “all the members
of the 2021 USA Olympic Surf Team were members and champions in the NSSA.”
Putting his dedication to surfing into maintaining its
history, Gibbons helped found the Huntington Beach International Surfing Museum
in 1987.
And he was the first co-chair of the education committee for
the Surfing Heritage and Culture Center in San Clemente, CA.
Gibbons has also worked with the Surfrider Foundation, which
protects the world's oceans and beaches. Under his guidance, CSULB students
formed the first Surfrider university club on the West Coast in 2013.
Tony Soriano, Surfrider’s Huntington/Seal Beach chapter
advisor, says, “Tom is all about educating the next generation to take responsibility
for the environment, especially the ocean that they enjoy.”
SurfWriter Girls Sunny Magdaug and Patti Kishel know the
positive impact Gibbons has had on surfing and surfers themselves. Many surfers
he coached still carry a guide he wrote, My Surf Journal, to document
their surf sessions.
Gibbons is a role model both for his actions around the
water and the way he lives life to the fullest, enjoying time with his wife
Barbara…
restoring vintage cars…
and rowing with his dogs Yoko and Liberty.
Tom Gibbons didn’t seek out the spotlight, but by following
his passion for surfing and sharing it with others, he's gained the respect and
thanks of the surfing community.
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Sunny Magdaug and Patti Kishel hold the exclusive rights to
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