Rip My Shredstick - Lavallette, New Jersey

View the Lavallette, New Jersey RMSS Video!

Words - Mark Zabelski

The fourth stop of the east coast portion of the Hurley Rip My Shred Stick Tour was held on Bryn Mawr Ave. in Lavallette, New Jersey. It was a beautiful day in Lavallette with temperatures reaching 90 degrees, light offshore winds, and waves. That’s right waves, waist to chest high with many of the sets well overhead for the mini-groms. As we walked up to the beach to start the set-up for the event we were greeted by a family of groms eager for the day to get underway. That was around 6:00am with the event not starting till after 8:00. I think they may have been just a little excited. That is what the shred stick is all about. We want to give the groms a chance to hang with the pro’s all day and ride what the pro’s ride learning from some of the best surfers in the world.

With over 100 entries the beach was jammed and everyone was having a great time. We were fighting the incoming tide all day but managed to escape with only two board casualties due to the pounding shore break. The Shred Stick is not just a contest it is an experience of a lifetime for the kids which we hope they will never forget. People come from all over for this event because it is that much fun. Outside of the surfing, Uncle Saxon was hiding Nike 6.0 mutants around the beach which the kids had to find. For those who found them they will receive a free pair of shoes from Nike. We also provide pizza for the kids from Lenny’s pizza which was gone in a matter of seconds with many of the kids only grabbing a slice while they ran back into the water. They were having that much fun.

There was impressive surfing all day long from children ranging from 4yr old groms to 16yr old future tour hopefuls. I was especially impressed by two young groms from Indiana with one of them making it to the final and taking 4th place. They had had their first surf lesson the day before with instructors from Ocean Hut Surf Shop. Not to forget Ryan, the 4yr old grom who bombed a set wave all the way to the beach. As the day went on and the contest wrapped up there were nothing but smiling faces on the beach for the kids new what lay ahead for them.

We all cruised up to Used to Be’s for dinner and sodas. We then showed the kids footage from the day followed by one more Nike mutant hunt and lots of autographs. It was an unforgettable day with everyone having a blast including us. I would like to thank all who attended the event and the Hurley Crew (Timmy Curran, Aamion Goodwin, Brett Simpson, Saxon, Max, Lucas, Justin, Brandon, and Pete). I hope everyone had a great time and will keep theirs ears open for when and where next years event will be.