Quite awhile ago, when Surfer Magazine started the Fantasy Surfing website, a good friend and I signed up and began competing against each other. It was (and still is) good fun. Plus, it forced us to pay closer attention to each althele’s performances on the professional surfing tour. Which coincidentally, started broadcasting the contests live online at that time. Hmmmm…how serendipitous, eh?
One year, I actually had the highest score for the Jeffery’s Bay Contest in South Africa (in the Billabong Clubhouse). There was even a prize involved, a brand new wetsuit. Needless to say, I was super stoked. Ironically, we were on a surf trip to the Las Flores Surf Club in El Salvador when I found out. We had been watching it online. A staff member anxiously checked on me to see if everything was alright because I was screaming at the top of my lungs! That was pretty funny.
However, by the end of each season, he continued to beat me…year after year. But I never gave up. We joked about it all the time, although we both were (and still are) competitive. We would never share the composition of our teams until the competition started. Eventually, I did sneak an overall, end of the year men’s title from him though.
Around that time, I also started to field a women’s team and did surprisingly well. One year, going into the final contest of the women’s season (at Honolua Bay), I was ranked number one in the world. All my team had to do was advance a few heats and world domination would be mine. Unfortuately, they stumbled against the wildcards and that was that. I think my team finished around 28th or so. Bummer, but still stoked.
As time passed, we started inviting others to join the NoCo Crew Fantasy Surf League (NCFSL). Of course, with more competitors involved, it was time to have some trophies for the winners. That began the tradition of giving a yearly trophy for both the top men’s and women’s teams for the NCFSL.
2018 proved to be a great season on a many levels. There were exceptional waves at several venues and some very exciting contests for the World Surf League (WSL). Perhaps the best part of the season involved something else though. You see, a couple years ago, my good friend suffered some serious health setbacks. On top of open heart surgery, he had several mini strokes that left him with a variety of challenges both physically and cognitively. Needless to say, the NCFSL was quite low on his priority list. But, because of his never give up attitude and the incredible support from his wife and family, he made dramatic progress over the intervening time. So much progress in fact, that at the start of the 2018 World Surf League season, he was ready to give the NCFSL another go.
Initially, he started at the bottom of the pack but continually improved his ranking as the season progressed. By the Billabong Pipe Masters, the penultimate contest of the season, he was in a close second place. When the last wave was ridden and the final scores tallied, he had won the 2019 NCFSL Men’s overall title by a mere 11 points! YOWZA!!!
For the 2019 season, which begins on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia on April 3, the NCFSL is going to go even bigger. First off, there will again be year end trophies for both the men’s and women’s winners. Additionally, there will be a separate prize for the Billabong Pipeline Masters contest winner. Finally, new prizes will be awarded for whoever is in the lead for the men’s and/or women’s divisions after the Australasian leg of the WSL tour (the first four contests). Here are links to the WSL website for lists of the men’s and the women’s contests for 2019. There may even be some secrect projects being developed in our TSB “skunk works.” Stay tuned for more on that. With about a month to go until the first horn sounds, you better get your teams ready so YOU don’t miss out on any of the fun and excitement! Cheers!