Body Glove News-Stories-Updates: Oakley Surf Shop Challenge

Big props to Jack's Surf Team for winning the Oakley Surf Shop Challenge presented by

photo courtesy: Surfer Mag

Body Glove team rider, Matt Pagan and fellow Jack's teammates Bobby Okivist, Vance Smith and Chris Waring put on an amazing show taking 1st place in the West Regional Champs and will be competing for the National Championship in Bali this October.

Team Manager, Matt "Chewy" Chernega sat down with Pagan to snag a couple questions about the Oakley Surf Shop Challenge.

Chewy Q:

Going into this highly competitive event, what was your strategy and did you guys have high expectations?

Pagan A:

This was the first Oakley Surf Shop Challenge I have done, but I knew we had a solid team going into the event. I honestly didn't know Bali was a possible outcome until the day I got there. That was definitely fuel to our fire. My teammates have participated in the surf shop challenge before, which added to our confidence and structure to our game plan. Our strategy was to have our first two surfers lock down a 5.0/6.0 ride as quick as possible, then have our whammy surfer (where the score is doubled) do the same or better, leaving our last surfer with enough time and opportunity to capitalize on the situation at hand. With having a solid team and a plan we believed in, our expectations were high but we definitely had to be on our game with the high level of competition.

Chewy Q:

How many teams participated for this region, and how competitive was the event overall?

Pagan A:

There were 8 surf shop teams in the West Regional champs, with Spyder Surf Shop being the defending champions. The final was highly competitive and the moral was high. Bobby's last wave heroics got him 7.33 which pushed us to the lead and the win by 4 tenths of a point over Katin Surf Shop, with Huntington Surf & Sport and Spyder Surf Shop finishing 3rd and 4th respectively.

Chewy Q:

What are your final thoughts on the Oakley Surf Shop Challenge as a whole and what do you look forward to most about Bali?

Pagan A:

The Oakley Surf Shop Challenge is such a unique event in that there are 4 surfers per team working together in a 60 min time frame, vying for a chance to win their region. Oakley has done an amazing job with these events and I cannot thank them enough for the opportunity they've given us to compete regionally as well as internationally in Bali for the Nationals. I haven't been to Bali before, but I am so excited to go with a group of friends, compete along side with them and surf one of the best waves in the world (Keramas).

Make sure to check out the Oakley Surf Shop Challenge National Event in Bali, this October and good luck to our team riders Matt Pagan (West Region) and Dayton Silva (SouthWest Region) as they duke it out with 7 team for a chance to win $10,000.