An honorable walk

Mike Sciacca

Andy Verdone remembers a time when he and a core group of close

friends used to find a way, any way, to get from their homes in

Lakewood to surf the waters of Huntington Beach.

It was the early 1970s, and whether they reached Surf City via

car, bike, a ride from their parents or, yes, even hitchhiking, that

close-knit group managed to find its way to the shoreline.

“We wanted to surf. That’s what was important to us,” Verdone

said. “It also was a big dream of mine to someday move down to

Huntington Beach. I was determined to make that happen.”

He did. Not only has the 42-year-old called Huntington Beach home

for nearly 20 years, but now he will forever be etched into the

city’s landscape.

Verdone is one of six surfers who will be inducted today into the

Huntington Beach Surfing Walk of Fame. His reward for those years of

striving is a name plaque that bears him the honor of being a 2002

Honor Roll inductee.

Speeches, photos and the formal unveiling of the six Walk of Fame

plaques that will find permanent residency on the sidewalk that wraps

its way around Jack’s Surfboards at the corner of Main Street and

Pacific Coast Highway will make up the 10 a.m. ceremony today.

Other 2002 inductees into the walk’s five categories include the

late Miki Dora, surf pioneer; Kelly Slater, surf champion; Brad

Gerlach, local hero; Steve Pezman, surfing culture; and Kim Mearig,

woman of the year.

He’s in quite heady company, Verdone says.

“I’m absolutely surprised and very honored,” he said. “That’s a

great group to be included among.”

Across the street at Huntington Surf & Sport, one day after the

Huntington Beach Surfing Walk of Fame event, four surfers will be

inducted into the Surfers Hall of Fame in a separate ceremony.

The four 2002 Hall of Fame inductees who will have their footprint

forever cemented in a square on the walk, include six-time world

champion Kelly Slater, Lisa Andersen, Laird Hamilton and Joel Tudor.

The two ceremonies coincide with the 2002 Philips Fusion,

featuring the U.S. Open of Surfing.

The Surfing Walk of Fame is in its ninth year, with 44 name

plaques already in the sidewalk, as well as two larger plaques with

the nameplates of the first 12 inductees onto the walk’s Honor Roll.

The Huntington Beach Surfing Walk of Fame board of governors,

consisting of eight members, votes on the Honor Roll inductee each

year.

The inductees of the five surf categories are voted upon in a

different manner, as each year the board of governors mails out some

200 ballots to a worldwide panel of voters from surf associations,

organizations, museums, previous inductees and media venues. They, in

turn, select their choices in the five categories.

Nominations are based on achievements within the surfing community

at least 10 years before the 2002 induction ceremony. The lone

exception is in the category of surf pioneer, whose inductees are

nominated based on having reached the age of 50 or who are deceased.

Dora, one of surfing’s first, true stars, died of cancer earlier

this year.

“I think we have an exciting group,” MacAllister said. “All of

these inductees have advanced the sport of surfing in some way, and

it is our way of honoring those who have made a great contribution to

surfing.”

To be honored in the Walk of Fame, an inductee must have 10 years

of surfing in his past, MacAllister said.

Slater just reached the 10-year mark this year, he added.

Verdone has been at it much longer.

From the time he was 12 and got his first surfboard at the old

Robert August surf shop in Huntington Beach, Verdone knew surfing was

it for him.

“I was a young grom then,” he recalls. “I used to prop my board up

in the corner of my bedroom and just look at it, thinking how awesome

it was.”

Verdone got into teaching and coaching at Huntington Beach High

School in 1983. He served as an assistant coach in the Oiler football

and baseball programs but had his eye on one job in particular.

“I told Dave Van Hoorebeke, our athletic director, that when the

surfing head coaching position comes open, I’m the man for the job. I

told him I’m a surfer and a qualified teacher and coach,” he said.

“That job did open up, midway through the 1987-88 school year, and I

took over for Chuck Allen. I got a dream job at Huntington Beach High

and never looked back.”

It was a perfect fit.

Under Verdone, the Oiler surf program continues to be synonymous

with outstanding success. Huntington Beach has captured five

California Interscholastic Surf Federation state championships -- the

Oilers are the reigning state champion -- won 10 National Scholastic

Surf Assn. national titles, several NSSA state titles, and won 14 of

the past 15 Sunset League titles.

His teams annually go on surfing safaris across the globe,

including past trips to Australia, South Africa and Ireland.

Several of Verdone’s former pupils will be competing this week in

the U.S. Open of Surfing and the Billabong Pro Juniors competitions.

“I’ve had so many talented kids come through our program, and it’s

a thrill to see them continue on and be successful at the next

level,” Verdone said. “I’ve seen a lot change in surfing at the pier.

It’s a whole new era now.”

Verdone is now part of an era that is linked to Huntington Beach

surfing history, as is his Oiler predecessor, George Allen, 1999

Honor Roll recipient.

The Honor Roll was created to distinguish those individuals who

have contributed to surfing and its culture and are deserving of

recognition, but might not qualify to receive an individual stone

along the Walk of Fame, MacAllister said.

“It’s going to be wild walking down Main Street and seeing my name

cemented in the sidewalk,” Verdone added. “What a trip. Does that

mean my time’s up?”

* MIKE SCIACCA covers sports and features. He can be reached at

(714) 965-7171 or by e-mail at michael.sciacca@latimes.com.