Instructor
Phil “Puddy” Albright and students
(Corpus Christi)—It’s a natural for a university whose campus overlooks the Gulf of Mexico, whose sports teams are “The Islanders” and whose mascot is “Izzy,” a cartoon-like rendition of an 18th century South Seas native.
Throw in a touch of “California cool” and you’ve got a recipe for success in recruiting “inlanders” to one of the fastest-growing institutions of higher learning in the state. In fact, on a sunny spring Gulf Coast day it’s easy to imagine a surfer “shooting the curl” of the Momentum wave sculpture at the campus entrance.
Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi last year became the only four-year institution in the state to offer beginning surfing classes for credit through the university’s kinesiology program. There are tentative plans to expand the elective offerings to include other water-related activities such as parasailing and kite boarding.
If an unofficial online poll conducted by the Corpus Christi Caller-Times after the newspaper ran a feature on the course is any indication, beginning surfing could become not only one of the most popular classes on campus but also could influence the decision of students from other parts of the state to attend the university. In that poll, 53 percent of the respondents said they would take a surfing course for credit, if it was available.
While the university’s Recreational Sports program had offered surfing as part of its outdoor recreational program in the past, it wasn’t until instructor Phil “Puddy” Albright got together with Randy Bonnette, chair of the kinesiology department, that it was added as a one-hour course. Bonnette immediately understood the potential impact a surfing class could have on a student’s selection of a college.
“Our hope is to inspire the student who is freezing in Wisconsin to come live at the beach and, at the same time, get a great education,” he said. He added that while beginning surfing is an elective one-hour credit for most undergraduates, the class is also very attractive to kinesiology majors who must take several hours of activity courses. These courses are required electives supporting kinesiology degrees that prepare students for careers as physical education teachers and coaches, athletic trainers, exercise technologists and sports administrators.
A&M-Corpus
Christi is the only four-year institution in the state to offer beginning
surfing classes for credit.
Evidence of surfing goes back as far as 300 A.D. in the Polynesian culture. Surfing was almost wiped out by Western missionaries who began arriving in the 1820s and restricted the activity. However, thanks to the dedication of Hawaiian royalty, the sport survived the missionary’s zeal and in 1905, a 17-year-old boy named Duke Kahanamoku and his friends who were dubbed the “Beach Boys of Waikiki,” were responsible for the rebirth of surfing which soon found its way to America.
Albright, who has been a surfing instructor since 1970, is quick to point out that beginning surfing “is not just a physical education course but also an academic course that teaches the history, art and science of the sport." At the University of California-Santa Barbara, which began offering surfing as a science class last year, students learn about the physics of how weather, wind and tides affect the oceans, and how the ocean floor and shorelines shape the surf in any given area.
Still, the bottom line for many students is that surfing is fun. Junior business major Dena Jimenez has always been interested in surfing but had never had an opportunity to learn. When she found out the university was offering surfing class she saw it as her opportunity.
“The class is outstanding,” she said. “When I tell my friends about it they assume that all we do is go out to the beach but it’s more than that. We learn the history of the sport and how it’s a whole different lifestyle. I think the university should advertise the class to attract high school seniors who are about to graduate. I mean, this is ‘The Island University’ so it seems only natural to offer a class like this one.”
Cody Booth, a freshman business major who is taking the course for the second time, agrees. Although he’s now an accomplished surfer, he’s retaking the course to learn more about the history of the sport, the music and culture it spawned.
“Offering a surfing class for credit is a revolutionary idea that other universities should embrace,” said Booth. “It’s a huge life-changing moment when you realize you can surf. Now I’m a surfer for life. It makes my friends from high school jealous when I tell them I go surfing and get credit for it.”
