Betzy Mitchell
For the News-Leader
The Nassau County Special Olympics surf team headed to Cocoa Beach Aug. 23 for the 2024, two-day state surfing competition. This year’s competition brought 115 athletes representing 14 counties to the beach.
Divisions for this com-petition were based on an athlete’s skill level, age and gender.
Level 4 surfers are just getting started. They require assistance getting into a wave on their board and may struggle maintaining their balance on their belly or knees while Level 3 surfers are just learning to get from their knees to their feet.
Level 2 surfers still need some help getting into a wave, but they are on their own from there. Their pop-ups are getting stronger, and you will likely see them standing on their board all the way to the beach.
Nassau currently has only one Level 1 Special Olympic surfer. A coach will head out beside this athlete and make suggestions about which waves to catch, but from there he is expected to paddle into the wave, stand up quickly and maintain his balance and control. The coaches will tell you strong paddling separates our Level 2 and Level 1 surfers.
Friday’s competition began at 1 p.m. with Level 4 surfers Stephanie Willaford and Luke Conley, in waves ideal for their skill level. Level 3 surfers Emily Conley, Max Lucovsky, Andrew Strickland, Jacob Martin and Zach Sculthorpe, were next, finding a tough shore break, but that couldn’t break their spirits.
Luis Martinez-Brown, currently the lone Level 1 surfer, brought the day to a close with challenging surf-ing conditions.
Under grey skies, Nassau surfers finished the first day of competition with three gold medals, three silver medals and two fourth-place finishes.
Day two of competition began under sunny skies with 11 Nassau athletes, all Level 2 surfers, participating in 10 of the 11 heats of competition.
Many of the Level 2 surfers are on the verge of moving to Level 1. Coaches were excited to see so many of them catching their own waves during this competi-tion. It’s all about the paddling.
The surf was challenging for these athletes, including Kathryn Soileau, Katie Freeman, Levi Soileau, Joseph Coles, Cade Soileau, Diego Martinez-Brown, Vincent Wolski, Weston Terry, Kris Mitchell, Michael Dugan and Brent Dickerson, with stomach-to-chest high surf conditions and a strong southern drift, but the athletes fearlessly hit the waves, ending most of their rides on the beach.
Despite some gnarly shore dismounts, the Level 2 athletes had a fabulous morning of surfing, bringing home five gold medals, one silver medal, three bronze medals and two fourth-place finishes.
The Nassau County Special Olympics Surf Team has 21 coaches and volunteers. These dedicated individuals spend their summer Saturday mornings June through August training with our athletes. They get knocked around by the surf and bumped by flying surf-boards, thankfully they are foam boards, all while their hearts swell and their cheeks begin to ache from all the smiling. The joy they bring to the athletes is matched only by the gratitude of the athletes’ parents.
There would be no Special Olympics surf team without the commitment of the coaches and volunteers — Nate Cole, Aryn Dipietrantonio, Betsy Harris, head coaches Steve Mehas and Kirk Mitchell, David Montgomery, Glenn Sculthorpe, James Beck, Glenn Bourquin, Sofie Bourquin, Kevin Maines, Jack Martin, Michael Martin, Ivan McMullin, Lisa Sciandra, Paul Sciandra, Brent Soileau, Patricia Sorensen, James Zielenski, Eric Cole and Teagan Maines.
If you love to surf or just love the ocean, volunteer-ing with Nassau’s special needs community may bring as much joy as it will bring the athletes. For informa-tion about Nassau Special Olympics sports programs, contact Special Olympics Florida.