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.
Surfing may have been born in Hawaii and raised in Malibu, but it grew up on the golden shores of Orange County. From the breaks at Sunset to the beaches fronting “Surf City” in Huntington Beach south to the legendary line-up at Trestles on the southern border, Orange County has been the spawning ground for generations of great board riders.
The Register salutes the best each year with the annual Orange County Surfer of the Year Awards. The online poll plugs into fans who vote for the best male and female professional rider – maybe a contestant in the worldwide Association of Surfing Professionals circuit or a lone wolf seeking out the biggest waves wherever they form in the oceans of the earth. A prize goes to the best of the longboarders who cruise the waves in their big boards, keeping alive the “hang ten” tradition of their zinc-nose slathered forefathers and mothers.
The awards also honor the next wave of top surfers – the up and coming boys and girls who surf for the fun of it or for their high school or surf team spirit, with perhaps an eye to one day taking on the Kelly Slaters, Andy Irons and Layne Beachleys of the world.
Fans, vote early and often. The last waves of votes will hit the ballot at midnight on July 9. Then the horn blows. The excitement peaks during the U.S. Open of Surfing at Huntington Beach, where the awards ceremony will be held at the Walk of Fame at Jack’s Surfboards on July 23.
