Cup runneth over for Team Orange County

Mike Sciacca

Mike Todd blocked out the month of May on his personal calendar to

concentrate on one thing, and one thing only: the first National Surf

League California Cup.

No competing in World Qualifying Series events.

No planning surf trips, either.

All concentration, he said, would focus on the California Cup.

In the end, the 22-year-old said, it was worth it.

The seasoned professional, who hails from Laguna Beach, was a big

reason Team Orange County was able to capture the initial cup

championship.

Team Orange County put the final touch on its successful

month-long run last weekend at Goldenwest Street Beach in Huntington

Beach by defeating Team San Diego on Championship Game Weekend.

Before the start of the first National Surf League California Cup,

a series of month-long, professional surfing events that had the

novel idea of implementing a team concept, the general consensus

among those competing had distinguished Team Orange County as the

team to beat.

A victory in the first cup competition, held at the south side of

the Huntington Beach Pier beginning on April 30, further entrenched

Team OC in the favorite’s role.

Performances at three other cup stops, hosted by Team Santa Cruz,

Team Ventura and Team San Diego, solidified the sentiment.

“They were, hands down the deepest team among the four, talented

teams,” said Jeff Cutler, vice president of the National Surf League.

“Every surfer down their lineup was a star and could enter the game

at any time and give an outstanding performance. From the players all

the way up to the coaches, Team OC was definitely considered the

favorite.”

And Team OC, whose members include Laguna surfers Todd, Pat

O’Connell and Bron Heussenstamm, lived up to that billing.

The turns Timmy Reyes, Mike Losness, Nate Yeomans and Chris Ward

took late in the game helped Team OC pull way from a battle against

Team San Diego that had been tight in the third quarter.

Todd, one of the team’s key performers, surfed the second and

fourth quarters.

“It was exciting,” he said. “It was the first time since Little

League baseball that I had played on a team. It was fun to have that

camaraderie again.

“The nice thing was that if you weren’t on your surf game, you

could cheer on your teammates to pull up the slack. I loved the team

concept idea.”

As did the rest of the Team Orange County members, as well as

Cutler and the NSL staff.

“The one thing about this California Cup series is that we could

not have done this without these incredible surfers and our

sponsors,” Cutler said. “They stepped up 150% and just did a great

job. Everyone seemed to have a great time out there, too.”

The team concept format was formulated by Joe Gerlach, the father

of Brad Gerlach, president of the National Surf League, in 1992.

Since then, the concept had been tweaked and tampered with, Cutler

said, before arriving at the four quarter style of competition, with

timeouts and substitutions, just like in football and basketball,

that debuted in late April.

“This turned out as great as we could have expected,” Cutler said

of the California Cup. “The beauty of it is that we are happy with

our attempt to create a sports entertainment value and fan base for

surfing, something that has been lacking. By holding these four

competitions at each team’s home site, it also brought fans a sense

of ownership with these teams.

“The bottom line is that this is more about getting the support of

the surfers. You can’t work on improving the sport unless you have

their support. It’s really about them leaving the beach happy. I

think everyone really enjoyed this first cup series.”

Todd thought the first California Cup series went smoothly.

“Win or lose, it was fun down there, with all those people and

being involved at all times,” he said. “That was really cool to see

that everybody cared and was having a good time.

“Brad Gerlach wanted surfers and nonsurfers, alike, be able to

watch these games and understand what was going on. I think the team

concept really helped bring a better understanding to surfing. Brad

and all those associated with the cup should be congratulated on a

job well done.”

Cutler said that the California Cup will return in 2005 and new

National Surf League cup events will take place in Hawaii and on the

east coast.

There is talk even of splitting talent-laden Orange County into

north and south county teams, as well as create a Los Angeles-based

team, giving the league six teams.