Surfer off OB Pier. Photo credit: Albert C Elliott
Surf’s really up in California. On Monday, August 20, 2018, Gov. Jerry Brown signed a bill making surfing the official state sport.
Acknowledging that surfing originated with the Polynesian peoples and that surfing was brought to California from Hawaii, the bill signed by Brown declares surfing “an iconic California sport”.
The law also states the people of California have made the sport their own – and that important developments and contributions have been made by Californians. For instance, surf forecasting and the neoprene wetsuit were both invented in California.
California’s 1,100 miles of coastline has enabled the sport to explode over the decades, and little surf towns like Ocean Beach in San Diego beginning in the mid-1960s helped surfing become more than just a sport – and more like a life-style.
The state has a crazy number of world-famous surf breaks up and down the coast – and is host to big-time surfing museums, festivals and contests (the Oceanside Surfing Museum, the Surfers’ Hall of Fame, the International Surfing Museum, and the California Surf Museum, the International Surf Festival, the U.S. Open of Surfing, the Mavericks Big Wave Surf Contest and the Founders’ Cup of Surfing).
Now, it’s official: the new law states California is the heart of the surfboard building industry.
Surfing has grown to be a significant part of California’s coastal tourism and recreation economy, estimated to bring in more than $6 billion in retail sales every year.
Democratic state Assemblyman Al Muratsuchi of Torrance – a avid surfer – stated:
“I am stoked that surfing is now California’s official sport. No other sport represents the California Dream better than surfing — riding the waves of opportunity and living in harmony with nature”.
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Hmm. I thought it was already.