Money lull grips surf series

Bryce Alderton

An eight-year Huntington Beach surfing tradition faces a nasty wipeout

this year unless organizers can find a new sponsor.

The professional portion of the Huntington Beach Pro/Am Surf Series

may be canceled unless owner and event director Seth Matson can find

another blanket, or main, sponsor in the next three to four weeks to

replace Hurley International, which was the event’s blanket sponsor for

three years.

Hurley backed out in January, Matson said, for reasons he doesn’t

know. He said he is still waiting for a return phone call from Hurley.

“I never heard back from them,” Matson said. “Hurley agreed to do it

and changed their mind in January.”

Hurley representatives could not be reached for comment.

Matson still hopes to have amateur competitions if he can’t find

another blanket sponsor.

A blanket sponsor typically spends more than $100,000 on permits,

prizes, trophies, insurance and cash prizes for all four competition

dates, Matson said.

Matson and friends Andy Williams and Everett Gesford started the

Pro/Am Surf Series in 1994, as an event where children could surf

alongside professionals.

“It takes kids off the streets for the weekend and gets them to look

forward to something every month,” Matson said.

Huntington Beach surfer Jeff Deffenbaugh, who has won the Pro/Am

division the last three years, said he would be disappointed if parts of

the series had to be canceled.

“It’s a great place for everybody to compete, it’s not just an

ordinary contest,” Deffenbaugh said. “Seth does a good job of bringing

lots of guys that wouldn’t do competition out to the ocean. Pros come

from all over like San Diego and Ventura. Sure they come for the money,

but it’s a fun contest.”

In 1994, the competition had only three divisions. Since then, the

event has expanded to offer 11 different divisions for men’s and women’s

professionals and amateurs in age groups ranging from 7 to 40, Matson

said.

The series is United States Surfing Federation sanctioned and surfers

that finish among the top four overall are eligible to surf in the USF

surfing championships.

The Sept. 11 terrorist attacks have caused surf companies to scale

back their budgets significantly, Matson said.

“We’re looking for someone to save the day, be our knight in shining

armor,” Matson said.

Deffenbaugh has also noticed a reluctance in surf companies sponsoring

events.

“It’s becoming a heavy task, almost like pulling teeth trying to get

sponsors,” Deffenbaugh said. “Surf companies have thousands of dollars

but seem to turn their backs, not wanting to give any of it back in the

way of competition.”

But not all surf companies have had to scale back their budgets since

September.

Quicksilver hasn’t had to pull out of its core events, such as the

Eddie at California Big Wave Event and the Men Who Ride Mountains at

Maverick’s event, said Geoff Bremmer, the company’s marketing

coordinator.

“Overall we haven’t had a budget reduction or pulled out of too much

of anything,” Bremmer said. “Core events are still scheduled to run. It

hasn’t come to the event level.”

Possible blanket sponsors Matson is hoping to nail down include

Coca-Cola, General Motors, Nokia, Virgin Records and Wal-Mart.

Tentative competition dates for the 2002 series are May 2-5, June 6-9,

July 11-14 and Sept. 5-8.