Surfing just became California’s state sport after Governor Jerry Brown signed Assembly Bill 1782 into law on Monday. Image: WSL/FRANK QUIRARTE
On Monday, August 20, 2018, California Governor Jerry Brown signed Assembly Bill 1782 into law, designating surfing as California’s official state sport.
The text of the legislation highlights the state of California’s contributions to surf history and culture, the state’s immense coastline peppered with world-famous waves from Trestles to Maverick’s to Rincon, and the role of the state as the center of the surf industry – particularly surfboard building.
The bill (now law) also promotes the state of California as a leader in the push for a more sustainable future. “California’s surfing culture is taking a national and global leadership role in promoting sustainability as a core value, while also placing a high value on environmental protection and stewardship, in order to preserve the ocean, waves, coastline, and wildlife that make the state such a unique place to surf, live, and visit,” reads the bill.
Assemblymember Al Muratsuchi of Torrance, along with Assemblymember Ian Calderon of Whittier introduced the bill back in January and received nearly unanimous support in both houses of the state legislature. Both Assemblymembers Muratsuchi and Calderon are part of the California state legislature’s “Surfing Caucus,” made up of a few members that surf and have historically advocated for environmental issues.
“Thanks to Governor Jerry Brown who has signed my Assembly Bill (AB) 1782 making surfing California’s official state sport!” wrote Muratsuchi in a Facebook post on Monday. “Surfing in California has a rich history and culture. It attracts people from all around the world and generates over $6b in annual retail sales for the state!”
In addition to acknowledging surfing’s Polynesian roots, the bill also makes mention of the relationship between indigenous Californians and surfing. “It is important to remember that California’s coastline… is also the ancestral homeland to indigenous peoples like the Chumash in Malibu, known as ‘Humaliwu’ in the Chumash language, and Rincon, the Acjachemen in Trestles, known as ‘Panhe’ in the Acjachemen language, the Amah Mutsun in Steamer Lane, the Ohlone in Mavericks, and the Acjachemen and Tongva shared territory in Huntington Beach, known as ‘Lukupangma’ in the Tongva and Acjachemen language. These indigenous people continue to live in these ancestral homelands today and have embraced the sport of surfing in these areas.”
The bill goes on: “It is important to acknowledge that the Acjachemen were instrumental in saving Trestles from potential destruction by a proposed toll road in 2008, due to Panhe’s recognition as an ancient Acjachemen village site by the California Coastal Commission.”
According to Michael Stewart, co-founder of the non-profit Sustainable Surf who helped craft the official language of the bill, Assemblyman Muratsuchi approached him last year with the idea, he was immediately onboard with a few caveats.
“We said yes, on the condition that the official bill language had to include messaging about how: surfing first came to California from Hawaii as an import, and that surfing’s original home had to be recognized, how California had been driving innovations in technology since its arrival from Hawaii (including surf forecasting), that California-based surfboard brands are now driving sustainable production practices that are having impact globally, that surfing around clean beaches/water has had a very positive economic benefit to California, and perhaps most importantly that conservation of our ocean resources is a core value within surfing culture, and that that aligns with the environmental goals of the State,” Stewart told The Inertia in an email.
Since the bill’s introduction, Sustainable Surf has been instrumental in mobilizing support – from organizing events to testifying in Sacramento.
California is now the second state in the United States to lay claim to surfing since Hawaii did so in 1998.
