Oneill Surf Academy 2009 - Holland & Belgium

For the last three weeks, Sierra and I were lucky enough to be surf instructors for the Oneill Surf Academy for the 3rd year in a row. The Surf Academy is put on by Oneill as a free day of fun at the beach for kids ages 8-16. Oneill fly over five team riders from the US and pair with five local instructors where we teach about 50 kids a day about beach safety, ocean currents and most importantly; how to surf. At the end of the 3 weeks, we taught a total of over 500 kids in Holland and Belgium how to surf.

This year was the 2nd we got to be a part of Oneill's Out of Bounds program where we taught visually impaired children how to surf. These kids showed that no matter what obstacles you have to face in life, as long as you are brave and determined, you can accomplish anything. The Out of Bounds program is very special to Sierra and I because we were both born with childhood cataracts. We underwent surgery to replace our clouded lenses with artificial ones about 9 years ago. We both feel so blessed that we were born in a time and place to have the surgery to keep our vision from getting worse. But like I said earlier, these kids showed me how their lack of vision isn't a handicap and never will be one. 

Click on the links below to view pictures of the events...

http://www.oneill.com/#/men/europe/events/r.oneill_surf_academy_2009/

http://www.oneill.com/#/men/europe/events/r.oneill_surf_academy_out_of_bounds_2009/