By Jay Cook
At the high school level, true passion comes out in its purest form.
Teachers tirelessly perfect lesson plans, counselors familiarize themselves with students, and coaches teach for the love of the game. Though for one student at Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School, that passion came about in a unique way: by the creation of the RFH Surf Team.
“I would say the biggest challenge is the will to almost get out of the water and stop surfing and do your homework,” joked 14-year- old Emily Grossarth.
Since the age of 4, she has surfed around the world, from the South Pacific in Fiji to the Caribbean in Costa Rica. That affinity for surfing took her on a wave as the key person pitching the idea of a surf team to RFH officials.
As an eighth-grader in November of 2015, she, along with her dad John Grossarth, set up a meeting with RFH athletic director Chris Lanzalotto to promote their plan.
“Emily put together basically a presentation that said how the team is structured, this is how it runs, it’s part of the National Scholastic Surfing Association, and it’s a real program,” said Grossarth.
The National Scholastic Surfing Association, otherwise known as the NSSA, is the surfing equivalent to the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA). And just like with the NJSIAA, academics play an important role in student involvement on the team.
Student-surfers must maintain a grade point average of 2.0 to participate on the team, and the coaching staff is keen on that.
“I think there’s a huge relationship between scholastics and athletics, because although this whole surf team is new, these kids are still student-athletes,” said head coach Kevin Pfister. “It’s still like if you’re on any other sports team; we’re treating it the same way.”
While there is a scarcity of surf teams located not only in the Two River area, Monmouth County as a whole fields only two other teams: Wall High School and Manasquan High School.
Due to its longevity as a program, the latter was used as a model for structuring the Bulldogs’ surf team.
“We got to know the parents who run the Manasquan High School surf team, and they were incredibly helpful in helping us basically build our program,” Grossarth said.
Once the program was approved by Lanzalotto, the team needed a head coach to run the show, which is where Pfister, an AP Statistics teacher came into play.
“We’re really trying to lay the groundwork and promote this sport and do everything the right way,” Pfister said, who also doubles as an assistant coach to the boys’ varsity lacrosse team. “No cutting corners or anything; just establishing rules.”
Pfister, who has been a lifeguard in Mantoloking and Seaside Park for the past dozen years, picked up surfing as a hobby a few years ago, not knowing it would take him down this path.
Alongside his assistant coach Eric Zullo, a physical education teacher at RFH, the team of 30 surfers, which consists of 21 boys and nine girls, has been hitting the waves for the past two months, working on form and technique.
Practices, which are from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m., take place at a number of locations: the North End of Sea Bright, Lot A at Sandy Hook, and Elberon Avenue in Loch Arbour, which is the Bulldog’s home beach.
“For me, I just want to make sure everything is as close to Rumson and Fair Haven as it possibly can be to make it convenient, especially this first year, for the parents,” Pfister said.
What makes the RFH Surf Team possible is support from the community, because the surfing Bulldogs are 100 percent funded by the school’s booster club, a 501(c)(3) non- profit organization, currently run by Grossarth.
“I’m actually loading up my trailer with tents, a generator, chairs, speakers, a PA system, horns; its putting together a small little village out there so we can host this,” he said, while packing up for a meet against Manasquan High School last Friday morning.
The booster club and in turn the team, have seen great contributions from local businesses.
Olas Verdes Hotel, a hotel in Costa Rica, is one of the team’s biggest supporters; the owners live in Rumson.
Even local NJ Surfing Hall of Famer Greg Mesanko has supported the new team.
“Billabong New Jersey provided us with all the contest jerseys, which is fantastic,” Grossarth said. “It’s great to see the local businesses help the school here.”
“I think that the support has just been outstanding, and I think that without the support, we wouldn’t be as successful as we are,” Pfister said.
The surfing season does not last much longer, as the days begin to shorten and the water temperatures fall. With that in mind, the NSSA New Jersey High School Championships have a tentative date of Oct. 16, with a “no wave date” – the surfer’s equivalent to a “rain date” – of Oct. 23 and 30.
In the end, it is all about that healthy balance of surfing and studying, which the NSSA recognizes through scholarships for student athletes who excel in both.
For Emily, who Pfister noted was the top female surfer on the team, that’s a wave she will tackle later on down the line.
“I think that’s something that I would strive to achieve, but right now I’m just kind of focused on my studies and doing the best that I can do,” she said. “It’s something that I’d look into when I’m older.”
Photos courtesy Kate O’Neill Grossarth
