BECOMING A BETTER SURFER: A LIFE’S JOURNEY

SurfGirl Magazine print Jan 2022

Sophie Everard reflects on how pivotal moments and figures in her surf life have influenced her surfing, enabling her to become a better surfer. From kickass coaches who push and motivate to how we can become a better surfer growing from life events, Sophie recounts how we can all benefit from our own own insights and surf senseis.

There’s been a couple of times in my life that I can categorically pin-point periods of growth in my surfing alongside key life developments. When I lost my father suddenly as a teenager to a heart attack, I dropped my surfboard and was locked in a pit of devastation. I’d been learning to surf in my late teens and was living with my boyfriend at the time in southern Portugal, enjoying the wild highs and lows of learning to surf.

One morning I woke up and suddenly my life changed forever. My dad, who was one of the greatest influences in my life, had suddenly passed away from a heart attack. My dad was a pretty astonishing guy, and if there’s somewhere I get my adventurous spirit from and love of the ocean, it was definitely from this green-eyed, travel and sport loving bon vivant. My dad’s love of adventure took him from living in East Africa, to Australia, Hong Kong to Amsterdam, Greece and Singapore. As a wide-eyed little girl, I’d hungrily absorb his incredible stories of freediving and fishing off Kenya, of manta rays the size of cars that would dive within a hair of his boat, exploring the ocean and coming across inquisitive Mako sharks, of exploration and play in crashing waves, sailing in incredible tropical waters, and wild camping in southern France. My earliest memories are all of hurling myself into aquiline waters with my dad, him tossing me on his back when I couldn’t yet swim, diving beneath the waves and waters to explore the mysteries of the sea. When my legs were finally carrying me around he bought me a body board and I was off, starting a permanent love affair with wave catching. When he suddenly left my world, there was a huge void in my heart. When he passed I didn’t pick up a surfboard again properly for about 2 years. Like many people, I tried to just blot out the pain of grief, and I just hit the partying scene hard. When I began to welcome healing, my thoughts turned to the ocean, once a place of so much shared happiness, and a burgeoning love of a new sport in surfing. I’d always thrived upon the ocean and connecting with her.

One day, spying my surfboard gathering dust in the corner, I took a deep breath, and planned a trip with friends to the coast. I wanted to heal myself, feel happiness again, and knew that he would have wanted me to continue our adventures. Those first few surfs reawakened not just a love of the sport, but a resuscitation of what made me ME: playfulness, a love of adventure, the happiness of moving my body and feeling the power of mother nature. And of course, of feeling connected to my dad. Every time I would surf I’d hear his roar of a laugh, think about his profound love of the sea, and how happy he would be to see me surfing. Surfing also invaluably teaches you that you have so much more strength and tenacity than you may have previously thought. When I would recover from the almighty wipe-outs that accompany learning to surf, I’d learn I was just that bit more capable every time. The power of a healthy life, connected to nature, moving your body and laughing with friends in a social sport quietly replaced my desire to go out partying all the time.

Just seeing surfing on a deeper level and understanding it’s wonderful effects on our overall well-being had a pivotal effect on my surfing. I next reached a plateau with my surf progression as an intermediate at a time I was metaphorically and literally lost in the whitewash. A surf trip on a women’s camp in Nicaragua with the awesome Holly Beck ignited in me the understanding of the importance of surf coaching, and specifically, great role models. The next year I decided to invest further in my surfing and through a string of serendipitous events, found myself in Costa Rica to review a girl’s surf camp.

Digitally meeting the owner Monty Murphy via email prior quickly established this sharp, funny and clearly experienced (50 + years of coaching) surfer could really be a great benefit to me, Fast forward 9 years, and Monty has been instrumental in my development as a surfer. Monty hasn’t only guided me in the progression I needed to improve my surfing, but the many accompanying folds of becoming an experienced and better surfer: appreciating and understanding etiquette and respect of the water and my fellow surfers, guiding me to head way past my comfort zones, surf heritage, culture and kit, and general stoke and love of the sport.

Some of my best memories as a young adult involve Monty, from 4am surf trips with me chasing the dust of a departing Land Rover with him at the wheel exclaiming “you snooze you lose” in his Texan drawl when I’d be moments late; to the first successful power turns I’d made under his encouraging and watchful eye; sunset surfs with pelicans flying overhead, surfing ‘til our arms felt like noodles; clinking a glass of red and ravenously demolishing plates of tacos together; his many jokes about my unsuitable boyfriends. Having this man in my life, my own surf “sensei” a la iconic 80’s movie The Karate Kid’s tutelage under karate expert Mr Miyagi, has been one of the greatest things not just in becoming a better surfer, but for my development as a person. If you’re stuck in a rut surfing and need help, seek it. Those mentor-like figures can have fantastic influence upon your surfing and overall surf life, and provide long-lasting relationships that are formative and brilliant. As The Karate Kid’s Mr Miyagi said, “no such thing as a bad student, only bad teacher. Teacher say, student do”.