Santa Barbara Daily Sound - July 26, 2007
Girls, Inc., summer campers go surfing
By Eric Lindberg

They walk out of the waves, drenched in salt water, battered and beaten by the pounding surf, and the smiles on their faces couldn't be bigger.

For the eight girls taking part in Santa Barbara's Girls, Inc., summer camp, this trip to a Summerland beach for surfing lessons has definitely been a day in the sun.

"I'm quite impressed," Michael Cohen, owner of Santa Barbara Adventure Company, told the Daily Sound. "A lot of them were popping up."

Cohen and another instructor took the girls swimming, body surfing and boogie-boarding before introducing them to a surfboard. They also spent about 20 minutes on the sand working on paddling and boarding techniques and going over surfing safety.

"They are not your average beach-going demographic," Cohen said.

While several of them struggled to keep their boards under control in the rolling water, others managed to get up for a few seconds of bliss before crashing down into the surf.

Danielle DuPree cruised along on a few breakers into the shore, and when asked what her secret is, she put it quite simply.

"I'm thinking about not falling over," DuPree said.

The goal of Girls, Inc. is to inspire girls to be "strong, smart and bold," Kristina Webster, director of the organization's Santa Barbara center, told the Daily Sound.

"We're trying to give them opportunities they don't get elsewhere, "Webster said, adding that parents are happy to get them out of the house. "Most of our parents are working parents, and they need somewhere for their kids to go during the summer."

In addition to the beach trip, the girls will go to the UCSB pool, take part in Fiesta, and participate in a scavenger hunt on State Street. After frolicking in the surf yesterday, the girls combed the beach, picking up trash.

A typical day in the program involved classes in the morning and team activities in the afternoon, in area including from arts, gardening, sports, cooking and language arts. Each group stays together throughout the summer.

"They really build a sense of team cohesion," Webster said.

She said the girls were initially nervous about going into the water on earlier trips, but by today, they were fired up to hit the surf.

"They're pretty apprehensive at first," Webster said, "but as they go on and get more comfortable with it, they are definitely adventuring further out."

Girls, Inc., is a national nonprofit organization, and has two local centers, one in Santa Barbara and one in Goleta. Although the camp does require a fee, Webster said many of the girls take advantage of financial assistance offered by the organization, which receives much of its funding from donations.

Cohen's company has provided surfing and kayaking lessons to the nonprofit organization at cost for the past three summers, and looks forward to continuing the program.

"It's a great way for us to give back to the community," Cohen said.

For more information visit www.girlsinc.org or www.sbadventureco.com.