Gov. Jerry Brown bolstered his beach cred Monday with a nod to California’s sweet waves, declaring surfing the official state sport.
The decision, made at the behest of Assemblyman Al Muratsuchi, D-Torrance (Los Angeles County), recognizes surfing as “an iconic California sport.”
“I am stoked that surfing is now California’s official sport,” Muratsuchi, an avid surfer, said in a statement after Brown signed AB1782. “No other sport represents the California dream better than surfing — riding the waves of opportunity and living in harmony with nature.”
The language of the bill, co-authored by Majority Leader Ian Calderon, D-Whittier (Los Angeles County), paid tribute to surfing’s Polynesian and Hawaiian roots, but said the sport — to say nothing of the distinctive lingo that comes with it — has become an integral part of California culture since it was introduced more than a century ago.
“Obviously as a high school surf coach I’m pretty thrilled,” said Mike Wallace, surf coach at Half Moon Bay High School. “I would hope this legislation would put the stamp on what California represents in terms of environmental standards and open access. It’s a hearty endorsement of the California ideals that we hold dear.”
The law said the surfing industry has been an economic boon to the state. It is the center of the surfboard building industry and home of the Surfers’ Hall of Fame and the International Surfing Museum, both in Huntington Beach (Orange County), and the California Surf Museum in Oceanside (San Diego County). The science of surf forecasting was invented at the University of California’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography in San Diego, and the neoprene wetsuit was invented in the Bay Area, the bill’s authors said.
Aside from surfing’s many contributions to the English language, the authors said practitioners of the sport have spearheaded environmental protection along the 1,100 miles of California coastline, including the famous surf breaks at Mavericks in San Mateo County, Steamer Lane in Santa Cruz, Rincon in Santa Barbara, Malibu in Los Angeles County, Huntington in Orange County and Trestles in San Diego County.
“California’s surfing culture is taking a national and global leadership role in promoting sustainability,” the bill said. Surfers have worked to “preserve the ocean, waves, coastline, and wildlife that make the state such a unique place to surf, live, and visit.”
The bill also pointed out the connection these famous surfing spots have to American Indians, including the Ohlone Indians, who lived for thousands of years along the rugged coastline where surfers come from far and wide to test their mettle at Mavericks.
“These indigenous people continue to live in these ancestral homelands today and have embraced the sport of surfing in these areas,” the bill’s authors wrote.
“Growing up surfing not only had a significant impact on who I am as a person,” Calderon said, “but also taught me at a young age to appreciate and cherish our beautiful coastline that we are so fortunate to have here in California.”
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