In a sport where nothing is ever certain, from the conditions to the competitors or even if there will be a competition, a handful of Big Island surfers got what they came for Saturday at Honolii Beach.
It was the 33rd Annual Quicksilver Big Island Toyota Pro-Am Surfing Trials, the opportunity for locals to leapfrog themselves into major world class events on Oahu’s North Shore, with round trip airfare and entry fees paid for the victors.
Jade Steele, 19 from Kapoho, will be a junior at UH-Manoa in the fall, studying physical therapy, but her qualification in the women’s open from the Pro-Am is igniting another goal.
“I’m trying to do everything all at once,” she said, “and this is a big, big help. My ultimate goal is to be pro surfer, to travel the world doing what I love so much, but I’m also really interested in school, so I’m going for both of them at the same time.”
Asked if there might come a time when one of those disciplines might squeeze out the other, she said, “Surfing will win, as much as I like college, I can always go back if I have to take time off to travel (in surfing competitions).”
Steele won the Honolii event two years ago, her first World Surfing League victory. This time, she intends to use her entry fee and airfare for the Wahine Pipe Pro event next spring.
For Nakoa Kuamoo-Mendiola, qualifying out of the men’s open division was another indication that the ambitious goals he maintains for the years ahead really are achievable.
“It was a huge thing for me to get this opportunity to compete in Oahu and get some good exposure, I couldn’t have asked for any more than this,” he said. “I went into it looking for long rides, big turns and radical maneuvers and the conditions were great. I think I got everything I wanted out of it.”
He thanked Pro-Am organizer Stan Lawrence, all the officials, his sponsors and the other competitors, including Shayden Pacarro, winner of the men’s open event.
“He’s been like a big brother to me,” Kuamoo-Mendiola said, “he taught me some things along the way, but mostly I learned just from watching him.”
A rising senior at Waiakea High School, Kuamoo-Mendiola has his sights set on a busy future, hoping to study marine biology at BYU-Hawaii while pursuing a career as a professional surfer.
“It’s possible,” he said, “It can be done, at least, that’s my plan. I love marine biology and on Oahu I can do both.”
His “big brother” Pacarro is heading back to elite competition with a brace of confidence after winning at Honolii.
“I was so stoked out there, the waves were fun, it was perfect,” said Pacarro, 20, a Puna resident who attended Pahoa High School and then transferred to Keaau, where he graduated. “I grew up surfing at Honolii, so it’s a special place for me. We want people to know that it’s not just Kona that has surfers here. We have a new group, a young generation coming up here on the Big Island.”
Pacarro’s goal is the Triple Crown, the goal of every serious surfer, and it’s one he almost realized a year ago on Oahu in a contest for the series of world class competitions, but he came up one spot short.
“One spot, man,” Pacarro said, “but it’s all good, thanks to Stan and this incredible gift of a round trip ticket and an entry fee paid up, I have another chance.”
Pacarro has been going hard at it the past five years, trying to secure a steady position in world class events and compete for the Triple Crown, surfing’s World Series of events at the Reef Hawaiian Pro at Haleiwa, the O’Neill World Cup of Surfing at Sunset Beach, and the Billabong Pipeline Masters at the Banzai Pipeline.
Coming close to qualification a year ago is confidence for this year.
“I had never been in that situation, I’m more familiar with what to expect now,” Pacarro said, “but still, it’s a big stage, like last year I was in a stage with Kelly Slater and it was like, ‘Whoa, this is the big time, I’m here.’
“I think it will just help a little because I kind of know what to expect now,” he said, “but at that level, nothing is easy fort anyone.”
