Jimmy Miller Foundation holds 12th annual Surf Fiesta contest

Ryan Ulrich

Managing Editor

The Jimmy Miller Memorial Foundation,holds surf contests, as well as ocean therapy sessions in honor of Mira Costa Alumni and former professional surfer Jimmy Miller who passed away in 2004 due to mental illness, but his legacy has certainly not been forgotten.

This year, on October 16 the foundation held its 12th annual Surf Fiesta surf contest at 42nd street in Manhattan Beach.  The event’s purpose, was to raise money for Miller’s memorial foundation, and to bring people together and partake in Miller’s favorite activity, surfing.

“The contest was awesome because it allows people to keep Jimmy’s name heard,” Mira Costa surf team coach and contestant Tracy Geller said. “ It brings the community together and is a really positive experience for everyone involved with the contest.”

The surf contest is a team event in which surfers are grouped together based on level. On each team, there is generally a beginner level  surfer, two intermediate level surfers, an expert surfer and a professional level surfer.

“The contest is sick because it’s extremely relaxed compared to other surf contests being that it’s a team event,” Mira Costa sophomore competitor Alex Fry said. “In every heat everyone is just always super stoked whenever someone gets a good wave.”

The teams each compete in a 15 minute heat against another team, and each competitor is judged on one wave. Whichever team has more points at the end of the allotted time, wins the heat and moves on to the next round of competition. This year there was 28 teams of five people.

“The contest is more low stress compared to others in the area,” Geller said. “People of all ages compete and everyone is super supportive which makes it a great contest for beginners.”

The event earns money, by doing a silent auction as well as a live auction on the beach during the event. This year items such as skateboards and apparel, were auctioned off. All of the raffle and auction items were donated to the foundation by sponsors such as Los Angeles Car Guy and Sector 9 Skateboards.

Link: The event is very popular amongst locals every year. You can sign up for the event by clicking here. 

“The raffle is awesome, it’s just another factor that makes the contest fun, everyone is always excited to see what is going to be raffled off ”  junior competitor Ben Choromanski said.

Photos: Photos of the Jimmy Miller event can be seen here. The event took place in Manhattan Beach on October 16th.

This years winning team was comprised of Sophomore Nick Cerofeci, sophomore Kyra Williams, Parker, Jeff and Greg Browning. The second place team consisted of  Gus McConnell, Philip Barnett, Jake, Aaron and sophomore Zach Rosenberg.

“ I actually wasn’t on the team originally, one of their team members had to leave and I filled the open spot,” sophomore winner Cerofeci said. “Even though I didn’t compete with them in the early rounds it was still awesome to win the contest.”