The debate continues as to whether or not Kelly Slater will continue the world tour race and his 10th world title. There has been some talk both here and at other places as to Kelly’s position in the title race, but if Kelly is continuing his uphill battle to the title, the comment he makes after the Tahiti event show where is head is at…
PLANT CITY – A Jackson Elementary School second-grader was honored May 26 by the Plant City Commission, which presented the youngster with a proclamation heralding his surfing prowess.
Joey Putnall, nicknamed “The Ripper” by a California surfboard manufacturer for his fearless ways of riding big waves, is 7 years old.
In October the Amateur Athletic Union Surfing Championships ranked him third in the nation for his age group. The Central Florida Surf Forecast and Reports named him Surfer of the Month in December and Sports Illustrated magazine published a story on him in an issue last month.
He was also featured in a Dec. 2 Tampa Tribune story.
The young athlete has “natural coordination, an undaunted attitude and a grandfather who loves to surf,” the proclamation states. Joey is an excellent student who finishes his schoolwork quickly so he and his grandfather, Bob Clark, can surf, it states.
While he enjoys surfing Florida’s Sebastian Inlet and Pinellas County’s Sunset Beach in the winter, he has also surfed in California and Hawaii, mastering waves 8 to 10 feet in height, the proclamation states.
“Because he lives in landlocked Plant City, he keeps in surf shape by balancing on an Indo Board, skateboarding and balancing on his surfboard in his grandparents’ pool,” the proclamation says.
More restructuring at VF:
Kevin Bailey has been named president of Vans Americas.
Bailey used to run Vans’ retail division and was a key executive during the company’s turnaround years of 2002-03, Steve Murray, president of VF’s Action Sports Coalition told me this morning.
“As you know, over the past few years Vans has grown strongly in both size and complexity and we feel it’s the right time to add to our leadership team,” Steve said via email.
Bailey career has included stints at Lucky, Nike and American Eagle.
Steve, who previously served as Vans president, will now focus more deeply on the Action Sports Coalition, which currently includes Vans and Reef, he said.
Key areas he plans to focus on include “long term strategy, brand and product extensions, supporting our international regions better, getting after the China market, exploring new acquisitions, people development, organizational design etc.,” he said.
Vans has been one of VF’s strongest performers and has continued to post strong results even during the recession.
