Huntington claims best surfers in USA!

But Mike "Snips" Parsons is ready to steal the crown for Laguna!

I have always enjoyed civic rivalries very much. People should be proud of their cities. They should think other cities are not as good and use vulgar language when describing. “Fucking San Clemente.” “Shitty San Clemente.” Like that. And so it was with much pleasure that I read about surf clubs springing up along California’s southern coast. Let’s read briefly in the Orange County Register (Orange County sucks).

There’s no prize money at stake, on Saturday, or points to advance a pro career in surfing. This new surf series is all about bragging rights.

Some of the area’s best surfers from four Orange County cities will be battling it out in big surf on the south side of the Huntington Beach Pier as part of the West Coast Board Riders Cup Series, an event aimed at proving which city can stake claim to having the best surfers.

The event is the brainchild of three Orange County surfers – Casey Wheat, Ziggy Williams and Chris Moreno – who took inspiration from Australian surf culture, where world-class pros such as Mick Fanning and Joel Parkinson regularly compete for their board clubs to prove which region is best.

The three local surfers created Huntington’s Board Rider club in 2016, then started asking other surfers from nearby cities if they wanted to create something similar.

“Basically, what we did was spark the movement and started calling out other cities. Anytime you call someone out, it’s going to tap into their ego,” Wheat said. “It was easy to start, it was all about us getting the Board Rider clubs together and going from there.”

Saturday’s competition will be stacked, with World Tour surfer Kanoa Igarashi, and his brother Keanu surfing in a younger division.

But don’t count out Laguna’s team, which will have guys such as big-wave rider Mike Parsons and former pro James Pribram.

“This is heavy, heavy bragging rights,” Wheat said. “There’s going to be a lot of heckling. We all grew up surfing together. It’s cool we get to come back together and have some fun.”

And this all seems very fun and wonderful. I would like to start Cardiff by the Sea’s club alongside the great Rob Machado and together we could dominate and win etc. But wait. Are surf clubs, or boardriders clubs or whatever they are called in Australia considered lame? I did not live in the Lucky Country long enough to get a sense.

Is it silly to be part of one?

Is it like being part of a wine of the month club wherein four different varietals get sent to your house every month and you can sample and learn and improve your palate all while having lots of fun with your best friends?

If it is like being part of a wine of the month club then I want nothing to do with it and Rob Machado will have to dominate all by himself.