Erik Krammer dedicates a good chunk of his surf life to others these days. He’s been a competitor, he’s traveled, and right after college he followed a path that led him right into an ASP judge’s booth. And it turned out watching and judging surfers on the World Tour didn’t just give Krammer a first hand look at what makes the best in the world the best in the world, because after a little over a decade of that he decided it was time to groom the next generations of World Tour athletes. It’s a unique resume that reads like a jack of all trades in surfing: free surfer, competitive surfer, team manager, world traveler, international judge, contest director, coach, and bringing it all full circle to competing again.
Now imagine being 10 years old and getting to go on a trip with a surfer who holds a resume that deep. Nine days of surfing and learning from a guy who’s seen and nearly done it all. Not a horrible deal if you’re a competitive kid with big dreams of breaking the WSL’s top ranks someday. That’s the story with International Surf Services’ Global Surf Camp. Heck, I’d pretend to be 15 years old if it earned me a bunk with these guys. I’m all for surf trips, especially if we’re talking about Costa Rica and Nicaragua, but there’s something intriguing about dedicating a trip to more than just surfing your brains out. Like surfing your brains out with coaches and cameras dedicating themselves to making you better. We see it across all youth sports. From baseball to soccer to you name it there’s camps, contests, travel teams and anything else you can think of fine tuning athletes at a younger age. Each generation that comes seems to get better than the one before it, so call me a geek but I’d dig a trip like this.
Global Training Camp – Girls 2015 – Costa Rica / Nicaragua – By International Surf Services & Real Surf Trips from Erik Krammer on Vimeo.
