For the sixth time, the Surf Team won at the Scholastic Surf Series High School Team State Championships. They also won the Men’s Shortboard, Women’s Shortboard, and Women’s Longboard titles.

Individually, freshman Gwyenth Lyon secured 4th place in Women’s Shortboard, and Senior Matt Chance took home 6th place in Men’s Longboard. 

 In the past, the SJHHS team had surfed their way to victories in 2022, and 2013-2016.

“When we were at the championship, all of our teammates were cheering for each other and everyone was yelling and screaming. It was a blast,” said freshman Gwyenth Lyon. 

Surf Coach, Nate Roberts, has been with the team since SJHHS’s opening in 2007, and truly enjoys the opportunity.

“It’s one of the most rewarding experiences that I have. To have the opportunity to have such talent around me and just being able to show these kids what it means to be teammates and how to be teammates, to work together to achieve our goals. Watching them implement hard work over the years couldn’t be more rewarding as a coach,” said Roberts. 

Students on the team describe the community as filled with positive attitudes and surrounded by a great atmosphere.

“The surf team here is so fun, we are always energetic and constantly hyping each other up. It’s all about helping each other and trying to do our best as a team,” said Lyon.

Surfers say the skill can take years to develop at a competitive level. For example, Lyon has surfed for a decade, and sophomore surfer Aidan Bradley has been surfing for seven years. 

To get to the finals of the surf championship, the participants have to go through many rounds, and win to move on to finals. 

Roberts says that due to COVID taking away the opportunity to practice together and compete for two years, his students have worked especially hard this year.

“We got shut down two years for COVID and so those COVID years really motivated this group to not only do it for themselves, but to do it for the kids who didn’t get a chance to compete during COVID. It was a group that really came together and learned from last year’s victory, how hard they had to work to repeat,” said Coach Roberts. 

Winning the state championship was an incredible feat for the stallion surfers, demonstrating their year’s hard work.

“Winning state was awesome because it really showed us that all our hard work and practice throughout the year had paid off,” said Roberson.

To get involved with the Surf Team, follow the team on instagram @sjhhssurfteam or visit their website through the San Juan Hills High School online site.