Only a few days after the 2008 Portugal worldwide surf championships

By Mitzam Fontiveros

 

 

Imagine wanting to learn to surf so much, you would do it in jeans. Imagine you are eleven years old, you have never surfed before, and the national surfing champion of Costa Rica (and one of the best surfers in the world) teaches you on a paradise beach off the Pacific shore.

Although it sounds like a dream, it was what occurred to more than fifteen children in the Nosara community when Gilberth Brown, Jason Torres, Isaac Vega, Ariel Gutiérrez and part of the surf teams of Quiksilver and Waves Costa Rica taught them how to surf one morning on Playa Guiones, thanks to the initiative of Cayuga.

Representatives of the Harmony Hotel and the kids, coming from different local schools, began to arrive at around nine in the morning on the last Sunday in October, taking their places around the surfers.

Andrea Díaz, director of Waves Costa Rica and Roxy Surf Camp, introduced the surfers, although many of the kids already recognized them. The surfers then spoke about how they became professionals and both the obstacles they overcame and the achievements they obtained after years of effort and dedication.

Trophies and medals were passed around in the audience, including a medal obtained in the 2008 Portugal Surf Championships, where Costa Rica won fifth place, a heroic feat never achieved by a single Spanish-speaking country, much less a small country in Latin America.

When the surfers finished telling their stories, everyone drew pictures of their dreams. From the airplane pilots to the hurricane researchers, from guitarists to a professional ice skater sponsored b Quiksilver. We were greatly surprised by the number of children inspired by the stories of the surfers and chose to draw themselves as surfers. The surfers drew themselves being painters, parents of many children, and ice skaters, showing the children that they should never stop dreaming.

The second part of the event took place in the beach in front of the Harmony Hotel, where they formed teams with the surfers to learn to care and respect the environment. Terms like reduce, reuse, and recycle were heard over and over while kids ran along the beach in friendly competition.

Finally, in the most awaited moment, the kids learned to surf from the hands of the professionals. It was moving to see the kids dressed in jeans and shirts and, without a worry, jumped into the water and rode the waves guided by Jason, Gilberth, Issac, and Ariel, whom gave it their all so that the kids had fun. At the end, everyone received gifts from Quiksilver and Roxy, as well as certificates of attendance to the event autographed by the professional surfers.