Beneath the glamour of UNC Wilmington’s Division I sports programs, the school’s surf club has long been one of the university’s most successful, and popular, programs.

 

One of the team’s top performers is junior Nick Rupp. Rupp has been winning surf competitions since he was 11 years old when he won the nationals short board division. Since joining the UNCW surf team in 2011, he has added to his list of awards by capturing the National Scholastic Surfing Association championship in his division, along with several Eastern Surfing Association championship short board wins.

 

In spite of his individual accomplishments, Rupp chooses to heap praise upon his teammates.

 

“We were a good team last year and I think this year is going to be even better than last, and next year’s probably going to be even better than that,” Rupp said. “We really have nowhere to go but up, because all the seniors aged out, so we have people that are going to be on the team for a couple years now.”

 

Alek Rockrise, president of the UNCW Surf Club, shared Rupp’s excitement. He explained that they were a brand new team last year, but now that they’re more comfortable with each other, their long-term goal is to win the NSSA National Interscholastic Championships, which they’ve never done before.

 

The surf team coach, UNCW associate professor in physics and physical oceanography Dylan McNamara, said he is proud of Nick for setting an example for other young surfers, who don’t typically go to college. 

 

“I can’t say enough positive things about Nick,” McNamara said. “Before he came to college here he was one of the best surfers on the entire East Coast and kids that are typically as good as Nick do not go to college. He’s pretty anomalous in that regard. His contemporaries that he was beating as a 16-year-old, they didn’t go to college. They try to have professional surf careers.

 

“He realized it’s like going pro in basketball or football. It’s a needle in the haystack kind of thing. It’s really hard to become a professional surfer where you can carve a complete career out of it. And a career that lasts for like a decade or more, that is extremely difficult now, and so Nick had the foresight to realize, ‘You know what, I can still continue to improve as a surfer, but I’d be better off going to school.’”

 

Because UNCW is one of the only universities on the East Coast outside of Florida that surfs, the competition season doesn’t begin until spring, with the NSSA East Coast Surfing Championships in April, a tournament the team has dominated for the past half-decade.

 

The club has won the tournament the past five years in a row. The accomplishments have not stopped there. The program has also placed top five at the national championships in those same five years, further cementing their status as one of the top surf programs, not only on the East Coast, but in the nation as well.

 

The team’s success has put them on the national map, earning other successful program’s attention in the process.

 

“San Diego State was our big competitor out there (at nationals),” Rupp said. “I think we finished behind them as a team this year, but we’ve always given them a run for their money. We’ve always been the best East Coast team, definitely.”

 

The surf team is a competitive section of the surf club, which receives money from the university for activities such as club trips and beach cleanups. The surf club is not a funded athletic program. Anyone can join the surf club as long as they can swim; however, there are tryouts to be a part of the competitive surf team. McNamara said the cost for the team to compete at the ESA Eastern Surfing Championships and the NSSA National Championships is around $15,000. The surf club received $1,000 from the university this year and the team plans on fundraising to make up the difference.

 

In the past, local businesses, such as Tower 7 Baja Mexican Grill and surf shops, as well as UNCW alumni, have donated money to help the team.

McNamara said UNCW students have also been supportive.

 

“We get students reaching out even before they come to school about the surf team and the surf team appreciates that,” McNamara said.

 

While unpredictable ocean conditions prevent the team from having scheduled practices, Rupp said the surf club creates a sense of community.

 

“Lot of camaraderie,” Rupp said. “We’re all friends and everything. It’s fun. So, we don’t really practice too much, it’s not like the NCAA, its surfing. So, surfers aren’t the most formal. I like to go surfing by myself, but I see them all out in the water a lot, and so, that brings us closer together, just because you know each other from the club and everything.”

 

With their undeniable success and popularity throughout Wilmington, McNamara said the surf team is an excellent representation of what UNCW is all about.