Ordille grew up in New Jersey but now lives in San Diego. Photo: John Cocozza//ECSHOF
On September 1, the East Coast Surfing Hall of Fame began accepting applications for the Class of 2026. The ECSHOF’s mission is “to honor the pioneers, legends, champions and individuals who, through their passion and dedication, have made outstanding and significant contributions to the development and recognition of Surfing on the East Coast of the USA.”
Its less explicitly stated mission is to honor the authentic, East Coast surfing culture, the kind that has flourished with or without California influence. Uniting surfers from Maine to Texas is not easy, as the coastlines are dotted with countless islands, breaks, and adventure opportunities, but for this very reason surfers on the “Right Coast” deserve just as much respect as their “Left Coast” counterparts.
Founded by Greg Noll and Cecil Lear in 1996, so far, the ECSHOF has inducted countless icons of surfing at the biennial ceremonies held in the even years during the January Surf Expo in Orlando, Florida. Ten new members are inducted every two years through a publicly supported process, plus a Cecil Lear President’s Award winner selected by the Board of Directors.
The 10 new members are made up of various categories: specifically, three pioneers, three male surfers, one female surfer, one media figure, one cultural figure, and one industry figure. Past inductees have included Mike Tabeling, Renee Eisler, Bruce Walker, Larry Pope, Jeff Klugel, Barbie Belyea, Les Shaw, Sid Abbruzzi, Cory Lopez, and C.J. Hobgood, to name a few.
Each selection process begins with the opportunity for the general public to submit candidates. Applications and guidelines can be found at EastCoastSurfingHallofFame.org.
The criteria is simple: inductees must be over 40, have a sphere of influence on the East Coast and beyond, have a media presence, a competition record, special achievements, contributions to the East Coast surfing community, and have been inducted to other recognized surfing Halls of Fame, have had sponsorships, and a career important to East Coast Surfing.
Then, New Candidate applications are reviewed by the ECSHOF President, Gary Germain, and the Regional Nominating Committee Co-Chairs, Greg Loehr and Sandy Ordille. Their selections are subject to ECSHOF Board of Directors approval. If approved, the RNC members review the completed New Candidate applications, selecting 10 New Candidates filling the slots across the award categories.
If this sounds detailed and thorough, that’s because it is. To gain insight into the process, I chatted with Nominating Committee Co-Chair and member of the Advisory Council, Sandy Ordille. Ordille hails from Ocean City, New Jersey and was among the first women to compete on the IPS and ASP tours. She is a 2016 inductee into the ECSHOF.
Why it is such an honor to be inducted into the East Coast Surfing Hall of Fame?
Because it’s one of the most prestigious surfing Hall of Fames in the world. It was founded by two of surfing’s greatest heroes, Greg Noll and Cecil Lear, and has adhered to the original, organized protocols for its selection of inductees and Board members.
ECSHOF has some of the most talented, dedicated volunteers that work together to keep the high standard that ECSHOF was built upon. It takes not just time, but a deep interest and love of our surf history to be a volunteer for ECSHOF.
How many applications does the ECSHoF usually receive? And how long does it take to review all of them?
The application count is around 30 per cycle, but we also have many applicants already on the “Perpetuity” list. Once someone is nominated but not chosen for that year’s induction, they are placed in perpetuity and go through every future induction review for possible selection.
How does the selection committee review applications? What makes someone stand out, especially in terms of their “career relevance to the East Coast” and their “sphere of influence”?
Sphere of influence is what you create within, and if you are good at it, beyond the surf world’s borders. It is the gift of an ever-expanding family of friends and the result of a lifetime of traveling, competing, adapting, evolving and embracing the journey.
As a competitive surfer, you realize at an early age that you’re going to be spending so much time on the road traveling in search of the perfect surf, but also meeting people involved in the grass root levels of surfing. This could be people working in local surf shops, nonprofit environmental community efforts like beach cleanups, water safety training, surf schools, fund raisers for surf museums, and the like.
You must learn to be a good participant and contributor in the grass roots levels of surfing life, but you also must become an expert competitor. These two separate achievements have different requirements at every new community you touch down in across the wide world of freesurf travel and the structured life of rated competition.
Even the most remote, gorgeous locations have local community needs such as supporting their quest to remain undeveloped and environmentally sound and instituting strong water safety protocols, so people don’t get hurt.
Our lives are enriched by every new experience. The surfer who can evolve and adapt is an excellent candidate to fill out a nomination form for.
What is the most challenging part of selecting inductees?
Selecting just one! The East Coast has produced a plethora of multi-talented surfers who are driven to prove themselves in both the competitive and the freesurf lifestyles.
Historically speaking, many states, such as Florida, have raised multiple qualified Hall of Famers in one generation. This is changing now, due to the exponential growth in the number of surfers on the East Coast. Plus, the advancement of surfboard and wetsuit technology has expanded surfing into states that were once deemed off limits for surfing due to cold weather.
Is there anything else to know about the ECSHOF or the induction process?
The ECSHOF is a non-profit organization and being a volunteer for it is an honor. We work for the surf world by holding up the history that is often found hiding on pieces of crumpled paper and written in pencil.
Surfing has made some parts of its history difficult to find. With every passing of a surf legend, there goes the history of the family and local community that raised her.
I also think the ECSHOF could work to include more women. Specifically, I would like to add or integrate a woman nominee in the Media category. It is time to expand the nomination process to be more inclusive of women because this generation has so many brilliant women in media who are raising the exposure level for the female surfers, resulting in surfing receiving acceptance on a worldwide level as it has never known before.
