“Hang ten, brah!” Blake Lawless said, a hint of irony in his voice.
It’s the sort of thing some would expect a surfer to say. That’s the stereotype, the one spread by Bruce Brown’s “The Endless Summer” and the one that lives on.
But waves aren’t the only things Lawless habitually surfs. A fourth-year communication studies student and the UCLA surf team president, Lawless, who currently works at a law firm in Century City, has perused through page after page of textbook after textbook throughout his four years at UCLA.
And thanks to this strong work ethic in the realm of academia, he will be attending law school either at the University of San Diego or here at UCLA. Count Lawless as one of many team members who have their school priorities set despite their common fondness for their extracurricular.
Longboarding aside, this bunch confronts a stereotype ““ the one that paints surfers as beach bums who are supposedly too laid-back, the guys and girls whose lives are allegedly constantly associated with the coast.
Like any other commitment, a dedication to academics entails lots of time and effort.
Staying committed to surfing comes only from a love for the sport, according to Mark Harrington, a third-year chemical engineering major.
Surfing is a sport of patience and adaptation, meaning surfers must be a bit easygoing.
Surf isn’t something anyone can control and is dependent on a number of factors, including weather, currents and seafloor topography. So when you want to surf, you have to wait for the waves.
“You could have no waves for a week, a week and a half, and then fantastic waves for a day or two,” Lawless said.
Scheduled practices for the surf team are a rarity. It’s already hard to get the team to the beach amid academic concerns and tough schedules.
Instead, practice often looks like one or two team members hitting the beach and catching some waves.
But practice is important, because this is a surfing team. And as a team, the surfers compete up and down the California coast against schools like Long Beach State, UC Santa Barbara, USC and San Diego State.
They take competition pretty seriously, too.
For the first time since being rechartered three years ago, the team will compete at nationals.
Yes, rechartered.
According to Lawless, when he was a freshman, the team failed to register with the National Scholastic Surfing Association before the slots were filled, so the team lost its club sports charter.
The next year, they reapplied and received a new charter with UCLA club sports.
That has had a strong effect on the UCLA team. Before losing the charter, the team was well-regarded and highly ranked among California schools, but losing the charter set UCLA back in both competition level and organization, losing many skilled surfers and some of the leaders of that team.
“When we first rechartered, we weren’t very good,” Lawless said. “The next year, last year, we were decent. This year, on a per contest basis, we’re top 10 again.”
After rising from the ashes that quickly, things are looking up for this team, which has several talented freshmen as well as a strong crew of returning surfers for next year.
Last weekend, the team engaged in a competition called the King of LA Surf Cup, battling members of the Long Beach State and USC surf teams on the waves of El Porto in Manhattan Beach.
The Bruin surfers walked away the winners, taking the top two spots in the shortboard final and the overall crown.
The trophy for first place was a dull silver platter, purchased at a thrift store. Second place received a kids sports trophy, with “2nd place” scrawled on it in marker.
And that’s the way these surfers like it.
“At our normal competitions, there are about 15 to 20 schools, and it’s way more competitive, a lot more cutthroat,” Harrington said. “Here, we’ve got a really nice vibe, everyone’s just having fun together.”
Indeed, once the competition is on, this team goes hard. But the rest of the time, the surfers try to enjoy the waves and one another’s company.
“Because the beach is inherent in surfing, that beach mentality is part of surfers, given that the two are so closely intertwined,” Lawless said. “I mean, who doesn’t want to go down to the beach, surf with your friends, kick it, sleep on the beach?”
It also doesn’t bother the team members that people try to bill them in one category or another. For Lawless and his colleagues, that surfing lifestyle is just a natural part of a bigger whole.
“The first thing my boss asked when I met him was, “˜So, you’re a surfer?'” Lawless said. “But I think, if anything, it’s cool to be a surfer. … And I know surfers that come from all walks of life, and I know surfers that go into all walks of life.”