Surf event raises awareness for Down syndrome

Jeremy Fraser, 11, of Tustin gives a thumbs up after riding his surf board during the "Surfs Up for Down Syndrome at the Huntington Beach Pier last year. The event is put on by the International Surfing Museum, and Rex and Jennifer Hudler's Team Up for Down Syndrome.

By Laylan Connelly from the Orange County Register:
If you want to see what pure happiness is, come down to Huntington Beach on Jan. 19 to watch as a group of very special people experience the thrill of catching a wave.
The second annual Surf's Up for Down Syndrome is an event that brings together the surf community, a great cause that gets kids and adults with Down Syndrome on surfboards. Everyone from pro surfers, to junior lifeguards, to pro baseball players come out to support.
The event was created by Rex and Jennifer Hudler, who started the nonprofit Team Up for Down Syndrome in honor of their son Cade, 16, who was also among the group of surfers with big smiles on their faces as they learned to surf last year. Rex Hudler is a former pro baseball player and game announcer.
Spectators can come watch the surf event at 9 a.m., where surfers will meet with volunteers on the sand to get into wetsuits and learn the basic lessons before getting in the water. Volunteers surrounded the surfers, so when they took a spill they could lift them up and get them right back on the boards.
"We're here to lift them up, to raise them up," Rex Hudler said at last year's event.
Surfers who help out with the lessons include women's World Tour competitor Courtney Conlogue, pro Danny Nichols, champion Jericho Poppler, and local hero David Nuuhiwa.
The surf event and fundraiser party later at 4:30 p.m. that day at the Waterfront Hilton is co-hosed by the Rex and Jennifer Hudler's Team Up For Down Syndrome and The Friends of the Huntington Beach City Junior Lifeguards.
There are still tickets available for the fundraiser, which will draw hundreds of locals from the community together to help support of education and services for children who have special needs, as well as the Junior Lifeguard programs and scholarships.
At the fundraiser, there will be a cocktail hour and music by Cali Conscious, dinner and auctions where attendees can bid on everything from surfing and baseball memorabilia and more. The night will wrap up with music by the Chantays.
Funds from the event will go to The Friends of the Huntington Beach City Junior Lifeguards, a non-profit that raises money for the junior lifeguard program, which celebrates its 50^th year anniversary this year. It will also raise funds for scholarships and a new surf program for youths with Down syndrome.
The surf and beach activities are free, and tickets for the event at the Hilton run $125 per person, with only a limited amount still available. More info: eventinsider.org/surfsup or call 714-665-8326.

Surfer mom working to get sport in national Special Olympics

from CBS News:
Special Olympians compete in dozens of sports, but surfing has never been one of them.

But now, Jennifer Rowlette-Reneau's, former champion surfer and mother of a 6-year-old daughter with Down syndrome, is working to get surfing included in the national Special Olympics competition.

In Florida, Reneau started an annual surfing event for kids with Down syndrome, named after her daughter, Riley, called "Smiley Riley's Beach Bash." Its success led Florida's Special Olympics to include surfing, now in its third year.

Reneau's now working to get other states, like California, to hold competitions. If that happens, the national Special Olympics told CBS News the next step is for surfing to become a demonstration sport at a future summer games.
Watch Mark Strassmann's report from Cocoa Beach, Fla., link to the video above.

Surf's Up for Down Syndrome

from Daily Pilot by Steve Virgen:

Scott McCall is no stranger to the water.

The 30-year-old grew up in Huntington Beach. He learned to swim at Pacific Sands Cabana Club with his sisters, Jayme and Megan. But McCall always wanted to surf.

He received special lessons at the Surf's Up for Down Syndrome event Friday. McCall was one of several potential surfers with Down syndrome learning from pros and experts near the Huntington Beach Pier.

Former Angels announcer Rex Hudler's Team Up for Down Syndrome, in conjunction with the International Surfing Museum, put on the inaugural event, which also featured live and silent auctions, as well as a banquet at Sandy's Beach Grill.

The sun glistening off the waves wasn't the only radiant scene Friday afternoon. There were smiles galore and laughter from amazement, as adults and adolescents with special needs rode waves.

McCall's father, John, said his son had tried surfing before, but had not been able to stand up. McCall stood up for a bit and caught some waves Friday, said Danny Nichols, his teacher.

"Scott killed it," Nichols said of McCall's sessions. "He did a great job. We paddled into a few waves. He stood up and had good balance. Out of eight or nine waves, he stood on five of them."

Nichols, a former pro who lives in Huntington Beach and owns a silk-screen T-shirt business, found out about the event from Brett Barnes, the owner of Duke's Huntington Beach.

Nichols said he was honored to help out and gained joy from working with people with Down syndrome.
John McCall said he was excited for his son. "I want to get him on the board so we can surf together," he said.

Hudler, a former Major League Baseball player who went on to become the Angels' color man, called the surfing portion of the event the highlight of the day.

Hudler and his wife, Jennifer, have four children. Their 15-year-old, Cade, was born with Down syndrome.

They watched Cade learn and try to surf with all his friends.

"I've been emotional the whole day to see the fun they had out here," Rex Hudler said, standing by the shore. "The typical kids showing them and how much fun they were having was also great. And to see that, given a chance, kids with Down syndrome can do anything. That's why I call it 'up syndrome.' It's not Down syndrome."