An Inside Look At The World Of Youth Surf Training

Some surfers have such an absurdly rare combination of talent and headspace that they can more or less float onto the CT and begin collecting scalps. 

Caity Simmers comes to mind. Medina as well.

The other 99.9% of comp surfers need to work at it. 

There may have been a brief era in which boardshorts were long, rockers were exaggerated, and the results of the contest and the afterparty seemed of equal importance. Those days are behind us. 

If you follow the comp scene, an IG scroll today will bring you gym routines, ice baths, and self-betterment journals. Guaranteed, if you shared the lineup with any one of the CS competitors, you’d baffle at how on-point they surf. Now imagine having to beat 79 other surfers who are just about as good as you and want it as badly. 

Real talk: The modern competitive surfer must do everything in their power to succeed. EDP’s Surf For Tomorrow is a series that takes that concept to heart. 

The brainchild of Tiago Pires and his longtime coach/mentor, Zé Seabra, Surf For Tomorrow is all about giving the next generation of European competitors the tools they need to succeed at the highest level — and following them as they progress. Kick it off with S1, Ep1 here.

First airing two years ago, the project is now in its third season. S3 is bolstered by Adriano de Souza and narrated by your boy Paul Evans. We’ve seen a rotating cast of surfers. This season’s team consists of Hans Odriozola, Kai Odriozola, Janire Etxabarri, and Matias Canhoto. Note: That ‘CC’ button towards the bottom right of the YouTube vid will be your friend.

Both Janire and Kai won QS events this year — Matias also smoked our Stab Highway crew in a heat earlier this year. But, as we learn in Ep1, nothing can be taken for granted. We get an inside view of a scouting camp, with Annette Etxabarri, Erica Máximo, Maria Salgado, Tiago Guerra, Salvador Vala, and Martim Fortes flexing what they can do while getting a taste for life in the ‘Surf For Tomorrow’ world. There’s always room to add someone to the team — even if it means showing someone else the door.

We’ll be sharing all of Season 3 with you here on Stab. Rumor is, we’ll even be jumping in on another scouting camp on an island that William Finnegan seemed particularly fond of in the not-so-distant future. 

Stay tuned. You might even pick up a new language by the end of the season.