So you want to compete in surfing

Southern California is the center of competitive surfing in the US, and the ladder starts at your local pier. Kids begin in amateur contests run by the WSA or the NSSA. The best get invited to USA Surfing’s Prime series and the national championships at Lower Trestles, then on to national teams, the pro qualifying tour, the Championship Tour and the Olympics.

The top of that ladder is closer than ever: the 2028 Olympic surfing contest will be held at Lower Trestles in San Clemente.

1. ★

   The top

   The goal

   The 2028 Olympics at Lower Trestles

   24 women and 24 men, July 15–18, 2028, in San Clemente. For each gender, eight spots come from the WSL Championship Tour rankings and seven from the 2028 ISA World Surfing Games. Most of the rest come from continental events and the 2026 and 2027 World Surfing Games. There are usually no more than two surfers per country per gender. As the host, the US is guaranteed one spot per gender only if no American qualifies another way.

   Run by

   IOC and the International Surfing Association (ISA)

2. 6

   Pro

   WSL Championship Tour

   The world’s best surfers, at 12 events in 9 countries. In 2026 the women’s field grew from 18 to 24, and the world title is now decided at Pipeline in Hawaii in December. One stop is Lower Trestles every September.

   Run by

   World Surf League (WSL)

3. 5

   Pro qualifying

   WSL Challenger Series

   The gateway to the Championship Tour. The top women at the end of the season qualify for the next year’s tour: six for 2027. The 2026–27 season includes a stop at Huntington Beach.

   Run by

   WSL

4. 4

   Pro and junior

   WSL Qualifying Series and Pro Juniors

   Regional pro contests. Anyone with a WSL membership can enter the Qualifying Series, and results only count in your home region (North America, for us). Pro Junior events are for surfers 20 and under and lead to the WSL World Junior Championships.

   Run by

   WSL North America

5. 3

   National team

   USA Surfing Championships and Team USA

   The junior national championships run every June at Lower Trestles for under-12, under-14, under-16 and under-18 surfers. Results there and in Prime earn spots on the Junior National Team, and the team for the ISA World Junior Championships is picked from it. In 2026 the US team took silver at the ISA World Juniors, and San Diego’s Zoë Panettiere won silver in Girls U16.

   Run by

   USA Surfing, the national governing body

6. 2

   Elite junior

   USA Surfing Prime

   “The highest level of junior surfing in the nation,” for surfers under 18, and invitation only. Invites go to the top finishers in regional circuits like the WSA and NSSA. Prime runs like a pro event: four-surfer heats with priority, computer scoring, and professional judges. The 2026–27 West Coast stops are Santa Cruz, Pismo Beach, Huntington Beach and Oceanside.

   Run by

   USA Surfing

7. 1

   Grassroots

   Start here

   WSA and NSSA contests

   Weekend amateur contests up and down the coast, for every age from under 7 up. The WSA calls itself the largest amateur surf series on the West Coast. The NSSA runs its own contests, including school divisions. Many Southern California kids surf both.

   Ages

   Under 7 through adults

The WSA is a California nonprofit that runs the Championship Tour for amateurs: nine regular-season contests along the California coast from August to April, then the West Coast Championships in May. You need a WSA membership to enter, and you register for each contest online. Our guide, What is the WSA?, covers who it’s for and how to join.

Girls’ divisions

How the season works

• Entry is $100 per contest for most divisions and $90 for under 12 and younger (2026–27).
• A surfer’s best six regular-season results, plus the West Coast Championships, decide the final rankings.
• Those rankings decide who gets invited to USA Surfing Prime. USA Surfing sets how many spots each division gets.
• WSA lets kids “surf up” into an older division, but since August 2024 surfers can only qualify for Prime and the national championships in their own birth-year age division.

And the NSSA

The National Scholastic Surfing Association runs its own contests, with Open divisions for the most competitive surfers and Explorer divisions for developing ones, plus school team divisions. It’s also a Prime feeder. Plenty of kids surf both circuits; check nssa.org for how to start.

Surf contests run in heats: a small group of surfers in the water at the same time, for a set number of minutes. Each surfer wears a different colored jersey so the judges can tell them apart.

Scoring

• Judges score every wave from 0 to 10.
• Only each surfer’s two best waves count, so a heat total is out of 20.
• The top surfers in each heat move on to the next round, until the final.

What judges look for

• Commitment and degree of difficulty: going for the hard thing, in the critical part of the wave.
• Innovative and progressive maneuvers: new and modern surfing.
• Combination of major maneuvers: linking big turns together.
• Variety: not doing the same turn over and over.
• Speed, power and flow.

Priority and interference

At grassroots contests, heats are often six surfers with no priority and volunteer judges. At Prime and pro events, heats are four surfers with priority: the surfer holding priority gets first right to the next wave, and the others can’t get in the way. Getting in someone’s way when they have the right of way (dropping in) is called interference, and it costs points.

A first contest day

1. 1.Register online ahead of time, and check the heat sheet the night before. Heat times can shift with the tide.
2. 2.Arrive early and find the beach marshal to check in and get the jersey for your heat.
3. 3.Watch the heat before yours to see where the waves are breaking.
4. 4.Paddle out when the horn sounds for the start, and come in when your heat ends.
5. 5.Results go up on the board or on LiveHeats through the day.

What to bring

• Board (two, if you have them), leash and wax
• Wetsuit for the water temperature, and a towel or changing poncho
• Membership confirmation and registration
• Sunscreen, a hat, water and snacks
• A pop-up tent and chairs. Contest days are long
• A camera to film her heats. Watching them back is the best coaching there is

There are girls’ divisions at every level, starting with the under-10 push-in division. And American women are among the best in the world: Caroline Marks won the 2023 world title and Olympic gold in 2024, and Oceanside’s Caity Simmers won the world title in 2024.

Both came up through junior contests and won the Girls U16 division at the ISA World Juniors, a list that also includes Alyssa Spencer and, in 2025, Huntington Beach’s Bailey Turner.

The pro tour has changed, too. The World Surf League has paid women and men equal prize money since 2019, and the women’s Championship Tour field grew from 18 to 24 surfers in 2026.

Surfing is one of the few sports where scouts really do come to grassroots contests. Surfline says the industry scouts NSSA contests every weekend. The usual path:

1. 1.Local surf shop: discounts, some gear, maybe contest fees.
2. 2.A board shaper: free or discounted boards, one of the most valuable early sponsors.
3. 3.Wetsuit and apparel brands: free product (“flow”).
4. 4.A brand’s grom team: product, some travel and contest support.
5. 5.A paid contract, usually not until the late teens, and only for a few.

Our parents’ guide to brand deals covers how to approach shops and brands, the scams to avoid, contracts and California’s rules for kids’ earnings.