Day 2 of the 2009
NSSA Nationals 0
Never let first impressions fool you, especially at a contest that involves hordes of hormonal teenagers, demanding parents, and National titles. Day 2 of competition marked just that — revealing thick tension infecting the event’s fun-loving façade. Trestles began to morph from playground to Coliseum — the frontlines of the battle of America’s brightest young shredders.
Although Round 1 of the Open Juniors saw mediocre Lowers lefts and rights, there was no less heart in every kid in a singlet. The usually peaceful cobblestone Trestles shoreline had become a war zone: Family base camps stretched farther north and south and on-deck contestants gazed seaward, ready for the race of paddle-battles and position. They were suited in the latest aquatic armor and equipped with fiberglass blades tucked tightly under their arms, thrust forward, ready to charge. Some were already bruised and broken, like New York wave guerilla Balaram Stack, who had a waterproof cast wound around his wrist — plaster proof of an unwavering commitment to his sport.
Though the Volcom brigade onshore fought to keep the amusement levels high with a sizeable onslaught of arts and crafts, finger paint wasn’t enough to make every contestant a happy camper. The word around the tents was that there had been a bit of a tussle the day before between two competitors — one, a San Clemente local, the other a Hawaiian. Frustration, a natural side effect of tense rivalry, had infected the two groms who were both in hot pursuit of eternal NSSA glory.
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