Regatta sailing series

The Central Coast from the harbor: Photo: Michael Anderson

Saturday April 9, 2011 the CSULB Sailing club woke up for an early morning drive to Santa Barbara for the South 3-4 series Regatta Race. After a well-rested Friday night the club was up and ready to go by 5:30 a.m. to meet contest check it by 9:30 a.m. Check in was a success with all nine members from the roster present. The races began at 10:15 a.m. and proceeded through out the day. “ The weather was great, I felt like the wind was really on our side, it was about five to 10 knots and the water was calm, couldn’t of asked for more.”  Club Vice President Laura Newton explained “I love racing in Santa Barbara because it’s so beautiful and the view of the central coast from the water is amazing” she explained as she de-rigged the sails at the end of the day. Overall the race turned out to be a success with little errors and minimal frustration.  CSULB sailing placed seventh overall out of 30 schools. “Yeah it was great I feel like we really worked well together as a team and we were all happy with the results.” Skipper Dustin Durant said, as he was packing up his gear and getting ready to head to San Francisco for another contest the following day. 

Coming in after a long day of competition. Photo:Michael Anderson

Soul Surfer

      Wednesday April 6, 2011 the CSULB surf club met up in Newport Beach to check out the movie premiere of "Soul Surfer", a highly anticipated film about Kauai shark attack survivor Bethany Hamilton. 

Rey Liang before the movie, all smiles. Photo: Michael Anderson

       The Club met up at 7:30 and stood in line for an hour waiting anxiously for a movie they have been hearing tons of hype about. "Yeah Bethany Hamilton is an inspiration to all of us here in the club, she's doing big things with only one arm, that takes dedication and patients. I can’t wait to get in and watch this movie. Club member Rey Liang states. Liang has been surfing for five years and has been a student and club member at CSULB since he was a freshman. Liang has a daily routine of surfing every morning before class, some consider him a die hard but he is the go to guy if you ever need motivation to get out of bed and go surf. 

        Soul Surfer is the inspiring true story of teen surfer Bethany Hamilton, who lost her arm in a shark attack and courageously overcame all odds to become a champion again, through the love of her family, her sheer determination and unwavering faith. The film features an all-star cast, including Anna Sophia Robb and Helen Hunt, with Carrie Underwood in her film debut, and Dennis Quaid.

Club waiting for the movie to start. Photo: Michael Anderson

            “The premiere went great, everyone had an awesome time and the movie just made you want to be a better person and really push your capabilities to the test. I think everyone enjoyed it, it was just a real positive night.” Club member Emily Bates explained after the successful movie night with the club. 

Sailing Away

A view of the team from the Harbor. Photo: Michael Anderson

        Monday March 14, The Long Beach State sailing club braced themselves for heavy winds at Practice. The wind blowing at a steady 15 knots with gusts up to 22 knots around 4 p.m. Five members of the club showed up to sail away including Laura Newton team captain, Dustin Durant, Shane Young, Chase Young, and Russell Olson. Team members rigged four club FJ sailboats. The team set sail for what they hoped to be a good day.
         Within 20 minutes of sailing Chase young and Russell Olson capitalized after preforming a Faulty roll tack, in other words the wind was so strong that it caught the sails and the boat tipped over. "Thankfully we were still in the jetty and not in deep water yet, so everyone recovered safely." Team captain Laura Newton explained.
          After sailing out of the jetty the two boats sailed at a fast reach around the nearest oil island, which is about an hour round trip, making it in a hour was difficult due to the conditions of the ocean being very choppy. Eventually both boats made it back to the yacht club safely as the sun descended beyond the horizon. "Its days like these that make you want to come out for more, the adrenalin of being in the deep ocean is so thrilling." Club member Chase young explains. The Members sailed into the Long Beach Yatch Club de-rigged their sailboats and tied them up to the docks. Newton explained that the sailing club also is a team at Cal State Long Beach and competes in sail races regularly as well as free sailing days. 

Intro to Club Sports at THE BEACH!

The surf club standing at Huntington Beach 9th Street Photo:  Emily Bates 

  

     Being students at Long Beach State is not all fun and games, most students take fifteen units or more, have jobs outside of school and are always trying to squeeze time in for some fun. What's wrong with a little fun especially if it means getting involved on campus! Being a student is one thing, but being a part of your school and having pride is another. F. King Alexander, CSULB President was quoted on our very first day on orientation saying "If all you do is come to class, do your work then go home, your not getting the full experience of being a student here at Cal State Long Beach." So in other words take advantage of what our campus has to offer.

      Our campus club sports are very diverse, the department of club sports strives to improve the quality of campus life by providing a variety of sports to choose from. Ranging from surfing, wake boarding and snowboarding to paint balling, bowling, hip hop and many more. Don't be intimidated if you don't know how to surf or you have never touched a bowling ball in your life, the great thing about our club sports is that you don't have to know how to do anything. You'll have the opportunity to learn and acquire your own taste and style in the sport. For example if one does not know how to surf, there are days dedicated to free surf lessons from top surfers at our school! 

         Being active and involved is club sports is also a door opener to meeting tons of new people on campus, especially if your a freshman or a transfer student and you don't know anyone yet. Creating friends and networks of people you can rely on and share experiences with is all part of being a student here at The Beach. This is just a briefing on what I'm going to be blogging about throughout the semester. Stayed tuned in for more about club sports at CSULB!