On Sat., Sept. 4, the Surf Club partnered with Concordia Cares to host Serve and Surf at Huntington Beach, where students cleaned up the beach before hitting the waves. 

Serve and Surf was the first meeting for the Surf Club this year, where both existing and potential club members showed up to serve their community and get some time in the water. The event started with a beach clean-up competition where everyone split up into groups and raced to see who could pick up the most trash. For extra incentive, each member of the winning group was rewarded with an Amazon gift card. 

Concordia Cares coordinator, junior Amanda Renfro, worked with Sam Shult, Sophia Matthews and their supervisor Amanda Harris along with Surf Club President James Weir to put on the event. Renfro said, “I loved seeing how excited students were for the cleanup and contest.” She added that the surfing portion of the event was a lot of fun and that it was really cool “to see a bunch of people try [surfing] for the first time!” 

Sophomore, Ross Bowen, who attended the event said, “Even though there weren’t many of us, we definitely picked up a lot of trash.” He continued saying how amazing it was to see the “Concordia community helping the environment” and showing just how much they care about the Earth. Bowen, who is already an experienced surfer said, “I joined surf club after the event and I’m so excited for the things that they have planned for this upcoming year.” 

Weir said, “It was awesome to see everyone helping the community and surfing for the first time.” He thinks “the event sparked some interest for the Surf Club” as he met a lot of new freshmen and transfer students. Even if you don’t know how to surf or aren’t interested in learning, every student is welcome. Weir said, “We help students that are just trying surfing for the first time and for the students that don't really want to surf.” He concluded by saying, “An equally fun part to surfing is watching others surf.” 

Both Weir and Renfro said that they plan on organizing another clean-up event at some point during the year. Weir said, “We will have at least one more cleanup this semester, but likely more because the first event went so well.” Renfro added that she and her team will definitely plan more clean-up events, but that Concordia Cares is also “focusing on providing a wide variety of service events for students on campus.”

If you are interested in joining the Surf Club, it’s not too late. After signing up and paying your $20 club fee, you will receive a t-shirt and access to the surfboard room for the entire year. You can also follow the Surf Club page on the MyCUI app for all of the latest updates and information. If you have any questions about joining you can contact James Weir at james.weir@eagles.cui.edu. 

Tags: clubs, community, event

---

About Maad AlKadhim

More articles by Maad AlKadhim