Surf Series overhaul

Bryce Alderton

The Pro/Am Surf Series is no longer in jeopardy of being canceled --

it is also no longer the Pro/Am Surf Series.

Del Taco has stepped up to the plate and agreed to be the main sponsor

of the surfing competition that Hurley International abandoned last

summer.

And since the show will go on and have new junior divisions it will be

renamed the Del Taco Huntington Beach Pro/Junior Surf Series this May,

said the series director Seth Matson.

Matson signed a contract with Del Taco marketing director Joe Senger

Friday.

“I feel excellent,” Matson said of the deal. “It’s a whole weight

lifted off my shoulders. [Del Taco] is our knight in shining armor.”

Del Taco will be responsible for presenting prize money for the newly

formed pro junior division and the air show, a difficult and showy art of

aerial surfing in which surfers try to do the most “radical surfing

possible,” Matson said.

Matson had been in talks with Del Taco managers for three weeks in

hopes of continuing an event he began with friends Andy Williams and

Everett Gesford in 1994.

An all out search for a new sponsor began last August when Hurley

International announced that after three years, it was pulling its

support.

“We felt it was time to discontinue it,” Jeff Hurley said. “Seth

[Matson] and us were going different ways with the contest.”

Adding more divisions and designating the series as an Assn. of

Surfing Professionals sanctioned event were the reasons Hurley wanted to

pull his companies support, he said.

The series will be the first surfing competition Del Taco has ever

sponsored, Senger said, but a new way to get the Del Taco name out there

is exactly what he wants.

“We’re interested in taking our brands to places we’ve never been

before and part of that is sports,” Senger said. “This is a unique

opportunity to brand ourselves with a local event, to be the local

hometown favorite.”

The professional portion of the series was in jeopardy of being

canceled unless Matson could find a sponsor, which is a commitment of

more than $100,000 after permits, prizes, trophies and insurance for all

four competition dates are paid. The competition still needs a presenting

sponsor, which would cover more of the event costs such as advertising,

equipment, city fees, printing, graphics and insurance.

Wal-Mart heads the list of possible presenters, Matson said.

The new pro junior division will be added to the series this year,

which will be open to surfers ages 20 and younger.

“Kids in high school and just out of high school need a platform to

showcase their talents and prove they can be pro surfers and make it on

the next level,” Matson said.

Since its inception in 1994, the series has expanded from three

divisions to 11.

Competition dates for the 2002 series are May 3-5, June 7-8, July

12-14 and Sept. 6-8.

* BRYCE ALDERTON is the news assistant. He can be reached at (714)

965-7173 or by e-mail at bryce.alderton@latimes.com