High school surfing’s day finally arrives after long struggle
PAIA, Maui. — After more than a decade of roadblocks, no one was going to let a few late flights put a damper on the first ever state high school surfing championships the day before they start. “They’ve been graciously working with us,” Waialua coach Rain Magyar said, as the Bulldogs wrapped up practice at Hookipa Beach Park on Thursday afternoon, in preparation for the HHSAA contest that starts this morning and continues with finals Saturday.
“Some of our boards got delayed, too, but it all got worked out. ” The five leagues were assigned specific two-hour time frames for practice Thursday, but at least two schools — Waialua and Punahou — were late because of flight delays. Magyar said it was important for his athletes to spend as much time in the water as possible.
The north shore of Maui is different than the north shore of Oahu that the Bulldogs are more familiar with. “The ocean has so much uncertainty,” Magyar said. “So all of the experience you can get helps.
And it’s been tough for us because of the recent floods. We couldn’t go in the water for 40 days, so we had to get creative with training. ” Waialua overcame the challenges to win the inaugural Oahu Interscholastic Association girls championship.
Rival Kahuku won the boys meet at Kewalos last week, but Waialua had the most combined points. With one of the lowest enrollments in the state, Waialua is an example of a small school that has a chance to win surfing championships. Also, it is very near one of the world’s surfing hotbeds, Haleiwa.
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