Chapman surf club’s first meeting sees turnout of over 70 members

Chapman’s newly-established surf club has seen an unexpected growth in membership. Courtesy of Ethan Navarro

Considering the number of beaches in Orange County, many students were shocked to reach Chapman’s Southern California campus and find that the institution has never had a surf club. 

However, that changed when junior health science major Izzet Kosar reached out to his friend Wyatt Vint, sophomore and business and psychology double major, about establishing a hub for surfers at Chapman. Vint told The Panther he was on board with the plan immediately after Kosar made this suggestion. 

“I was stoked right off the bat, because (a surf club) was something I was looking for,” Vint said. “A group of people that — whether you surf a ton or surf a little — love the ocean, love to surf and (love) just getting that together. Having a group for that sounded like a great idea.”

Kosar said he wanted to be able to open the surf club to every student, no matter their experience with the sport. Vint added that the club is an ideal opportunity for students coming to campus from a variety of geographical locations — some with little to no access to the ocean.

“At the surf club, we don’t really care if you’re a beginner, intermediate or advanced,” Kosar said. “We’re trying to aim for good vibes — good beach vibes.”

Freshman health science major Gabby Puamana came into the surf club with experience, having grown up in Hawaii where she’s surfed since she was eight. When she came to Chapman, one of the primary things she was looking for was a community of fellow surfers.

“I was hoping to find friends who had cars that could drive us to the beach (and) knew the (surf) spots,” Puamana said. “I really wanted to incorporate (surfing) into my daily routine here.” 

Kosar told The Panther Chapman’s surf club plans on having social events biweekly this semester such as casual beach days and surf trips. He added that there are also plans for a concert event in collaboration with other surf clubs from institutions like the University of Southern California, the University of California, Los Angeles and Loyola Marymount University.

At its first meeting of the semester on August 29th, Chapman’s surf club saw a turnout of over 70 members, which both Vint and Kosar regarded as an incredibly positive turnout for a club that just started this semester. After that day, Puamana told The Panther she felt she was able to connect with other surfers and find a place in the community.

“One of the guys that runs (surf club) is from the Big Island, so it’s a different island than I’m from in Hawaii, but we share some things in common, '' Puamana said. “Also, the other people I’ve met are actually some of my really good friends that I hang out with all the time now which is nice.”

It’s typical for challenges to arise when a club experiences such rapid growth in membership. But, from the beginning, Kosar anticipated the group’s rise in popularity and said he will adjust event plans accordingly.

“We predicted a lot of members; everything is going as planned,” Kosar said. “All the events are going to stay the same, and it is going to be pretty broad — like the beach days or the group surf trips. We are just going to cater to how many members we have that are down to go, and also collaborate with other schools.”

One potential issue that Chapman surf club may run into is running these events while adhering to COVID-19 guidelines. Vint said the surf club is ready to adjust in order to keep its members safe and also pointed out some of the benefits of hosting events in an outdoors environment.

“I think if we do have any issues running into stuff related to the pandemic, we may have to cancel a few events,” Vint said. “But for the most part (Chapman) surf club is an outside club. We are at the beach, so we can have an abundance of area to spread people around.”

For Vint, surfing is more than an individual sport, and he believes the surf club will bring everyone together.

"Even though surfing is a solo sport, paddling out with others is a great way to make new friends and develop lifelong relationships through shared experiences and great memories, similar to a team sport,” Vint said.