I'm guessing not...perhaps in womens but not men. Even for women it's a huge long shot.

Major Sponsors just don't seem that interested in investing marketing $ in an East Coaster. Gabe Kling gave it a shot and Va Beach's Mike Dunphy might make the tour, but the bottom line: 

East Coast waves aren't getting any better...even Californians seem like they're struggling

What will it take to regain the glory years of Slater, Crawford, Holland, the Hobgoods, the Lopez brothers?

If I had to pick one surfer from the East Coast that has a shot at a world title?

Ms. Marks

 

 

 

Seems like murica's surf talent rather party or social media and make vids, then train and take it serious. If you stand out the sponsors there.

i LOVE that you've brought this topic up again!

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Water dissolving...and water removing
There is water at the bottom of the ocean

I really doubt there will ever be another Slater from anywhere. The competition is so steep now. Everyother kid at the inlet seems to be able to do a 360 aerial. But the east coast waves have never been in the ball park of Cali, HW or Australia so that is no excuse. Once Slater is done with the tour hopefully he'll settle down here and groom the next world champs from Cocoa.

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Replace turf grass with native plants that don't need irrigation and synthetic fertilizers or chemicals that can go into our waterways and ocean

It'll probably be my neighbor's 8 year old son....he rips!

Ha!, now thERe ya go^!


all you ninnies cry'n 'bout boohoo waves crappy, boohoo, can't nobody git good out'n 'roun 'ere boohoo~~ It'll happen- from hERe too- besssurf in the worl, still ain't nobody in the zone from 'dere.- socio-economic deal 'roun 'ere has as much to do with talent not show'n evident as anything,, here. Our crap is 'hard' to get consistently get good at, and when 1 our phenoms' does git it, can produce and develop the next Mo-Ali's from down the street Brevard, guys like this what's his name seen a few times ripp'in worl' class ish ALL the time, uh,, uh Cory sumthin', the kids' photog's workn alot w/ him these days, can't remember his last name, anyway,, guys like that and even more so , like our man Dan up 'bove there^, was say'in his neighbor kids' a pheeeenom. It'll happen, from here too!!
-watch, see-
yeew! )

Florida isa good training ground for groms.  Small surf to get a feel for things without suffering too much.  If the talent and the will is there then whats to stop a kid from growing. You also have cheap flights to some better surf Central America and  Porto Rica. Less crowds to deal with then Calif.   Lots of good things here to get a start.  

But really what are the chances of even the best making it as a pro? I mean making the money so that when the time comes you can do something else while maintaining a good life?  Many of the Surfers from the  early days of Pro 1980 and 1990s that graced the Magizines and movies of that time didn't transition well.  Drug and the fast life ofa Pro surfer took it's toll Then there are some that suffer from bad backs and spine injuries from bad wipe outs and repetitive damage.  Slater is smart driven and works hard to take care of his body.  

It has nothing to do with the quality of the waves on the east coast...never was and never will be.  Otherwise, Kelly, CJ, Lisa, or Frieda would've never acculumated ALL of their World Titles.

In fact, I believe that lack of consistently good waves on the east coast may have contributed to an increased hunger and desire.

So, of course there will be another world champ that hails from the east coast...exactly who and when still to be determined.  While still very young, Ms. Marks certainly has the potential, but I'm hoping Kelly claims his 12th next month!

 

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Surfing is my passion...obsesssion... addiction! Can't imagine life without it!

I think Ke11y Slater is a phenomenon, he would've killed it no matter where he grew up, as long as it was by a beach.

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Life is a garden*Dig it!

I talkesd to one of my undercover, high-level illuminati contacts who works at Dunkin Donuts by RC's. He says they need a brazillian or auzzie champ or else they have absolutely no shot at pulling together a one world religion and government. 

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Big hitter the Lama.

What if he grew up on the great lakes?

Yeah and what about that guy Rick Kane from Arizona?  I know he wasn't world  champ but he almost beat Burkhart at Pipe!

 

 

The problem I see with Florida up and coming surfers is the size of the surf that Florida produces. These contest surfers on the east coast may be able to do 360 airs and tail blowing turns on head high surf. But it seems like its getting harder and harder for upcoming surfers on the east coast (and everywhere) to get their sponsors to really throw down and send them on trips to places with more consequencing surf. John John isnt the best barrel rider in the world for no reason. These companies don't seem to be as concerned with sponsors as much as they did when Kelly signed with Quiksilver. Signing a 6 figure deal back then was a pretty big deal. 

Right now I'm believing in Caroline Marks and Tommy Coleman as our best bets.


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... positioning and selection

Any word on families moving to Cape Town or Perth to be near the right kind of surf?

This is a great discussion. Let me throw in my 2 cents: One big difference between the early days of Kelly / Lopez's / Hobgoods and now is how much deeper the global talent pool is, and how those people are able to get exposure because of the power and speed of the internet. Keep in mind that when Frieda, Kelly, Lisa, Shea, Cory, CJ, & Damien we coming up through the ranks, all the photogs were shooting with film, not digital. That film had to be processed, turned into slides, then sent to a mag to *maybe* be run in the future. Surf videos were also shot on film by folks who had to be fairly invested in what they were doing. Surfers that were close to the mags and their staff photogs generally got most of the attention just because it was easier that way! Today, nearly anybody can have a photo or a clip shot of them but basically anyone with a digital SLR, which can then be uploaded to the net for the entire world to see within minutes. Look at Kelly's 540 as a prime example of the speed at which this happens. The guy hadn't even left the beach and the world was already seeing what he had done! The result of this is that you have to try really, really hard and be really, really good to stand out. If anything, the internet has leveled the playing field for those surfers that weren't fortunate enough to live close to or know those working Surfer, Surfing, Transworld, or ESM (or their equivalents in other countries). As a result of the above, contest surfing has become more of a challenge too. I guarantee that there are more talented surfers from more countries than there have ever been chasing the dream on the 'QS. Take a look at a surfer like Evan Geiselman. There's no denying that he's probably one of, if not the most talented surfers from the east coast trying to qualify right now. Problem is, he's one of a 100+ surfers trying to compete for 10 spots that are likely to be half filled by guys who are doing double-time trying to keep their spot on the 'CT. We also have to remember that it used to be the top 44, not 32 like today, so there's simply not as many slots available as there used to be.

Sure, why not?

 

 

 

this^

nice read!

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ola ~

Just to make the WCT will be a challenge.

Cam Richards might have a shot at the CT.

I know I'll get blasted for this but WTH this is an open forum right?  The WCT is so stagnant, I mean Kelly's 540 was the most interesting thing to happen and it wasn't even in a heat! How many air reverses can we stand before we just explode from boredom?  There's very little uniqueness happening on tour right now.  Dane was the last of the interesting surfers on tour and with him gone it's gotten so boring.  Not that these people aren't good surfers but they are just so predictable.  Here's my call for the next WCT contest: "Medina hacks off the lip to a fins free lip slide, pumps down the line, air reverse" and he wins the heat!  Yawn....