Join the team!
Quick Details
2021 Fall / Winter / Spring Grom Team Now Meeting Regularly!
Summertime Surf’s professional coaching staff leads NJ’s premier advanced surf coaching program for New Jersey’s best up-and-coming surfers. Since 2008, Grom Team members have developed their fundamentals and fine-tuned their skills to become regional, state and national surfing champions. Some have gone on to become sponsored athletes and others to become captains of collegiate surf teams. Accolades aside, we coaches are most proud of the hard work and resulting life lessons that grom team members take with them as they transition from being stoked kids to responsible young watermen and waterwomen.
Grom Team directors Mark Gilmartin & Shaun McGrath have over 25 years of surf coaching experience and worldwide surf travel expertise between them. Together with Manasquan H.S.coach J.D. LaCarrubba and their assistant coaching staff, the Summertime coaching roster is made up of some of the area’s best surfers, many of whom were once team members themselves.
“It is an honor to work with your children and you can expect a safe, professionally organized program that is, like our team members, in a continuous state of refinement.” –Shaun McGrath, founder
Summer Team Practices:
Summer Team Cost:
The “open tryout” serves as the most important date for Varsity/JV placement and for placing surfers with the best coaches for the various ability levels.
All team members from previous seasons are required to attend the open tryout.
WHEN:
WHERE:
NEW FOR 2021 – we are gauging interest in opening a second location for Boys & Girls grom teams in Point Pleasant. While the Open tryout will occur in Bradley Beach, there is a registration question to answer if you are interested in the Point Pleasant location for Grom Team.
WHAT TO BRING:
Being prepared for the tryout is an important indicator of what coaches can expect from each surfer. The tryout moves quickly so please come prepared.
WHAT IS THE TRYOUT:
The open tryout is supervised by coaches for safety, but please note that any hopeful who cannot complete the tryout without coaches’ assistance will be in jeopardy of not making the team. Coaches may leave out any part of the tryout if group safety is at risk.
At the conclusion of the Summer season, surfers are left to make a decision, “are they dedicated to developing their surfing skills year-round?” If the answer is yes, signing up for the FWS Grom Team is the best way to further their path of surfing excellence.
We do our best to call our FWS sessions ON during times when we think the conditions are ideal for the kids to learn and for us to coach. We use video review as much as possible as a tool to help the kids see what they are doing correctly and where their technique can be improved. Before the start of each session we talk with the team members to identify things for them to work on before the hit the water.
Grom Team Membership – $150
Not ready to commit? Drop-in to try a session at $60 per session.
During the Fall-Winter-Spring season, the Grom Team offers a “rolling admissions” approach to joining the team. That is, we accept new team members throughout the seasons on a case-by-case basis.
FWS Grom Team practices may serve as an opportunity to try out for the team. Interested members arrive early for an in-person consultation with coaching staff so that we can take the time to prepare each surfer and set their expectations for what skills we will be looking for the surfer to demonstrate.
If your surfer makes the team, they’ll have the opportunity to register as an official team member. See membership information below.
How to Join the FWS Team:
More info to help you understand how we adapt to NJ’s changing seasons:
🍂 With September and October being two of the best months to be a surfer in New Jersey, coaches aim to schedule 3 practice sessions per week. Practices are held after school and on the weekends from September 8th to October 31st.
🎃 After Halloween, practice opportunities become more challenging due to limited after-school daylight. Please expect more weekend practices and local indoor training sessions.
❄️ The Winter season is both incredibly challenging and rewarding. Daylight is scarce and temperatures make surfing suited for only the truly dedicated. However, winter possesses incredible potential, as some of our most memorable practices come during those months for the more advanced surfers.
✈️ If it becomes safe to return to travel, destinations such as Southern Mexico, Waco’s Wave Pool, and the American Dream indoor facility have all been organized in previous years, and we plan to explore traveling as a team to these and other destinations again, when the global climate allows.
🌦️ When Spring returns, the daylight after school does as well, and Grom Team members can expect more opportunities for after-school and weekend practice sessions as we approach summer.
☀️ The 2022 Summer season begins a new year for the Grom Team and a return to the regular morning practice schedule. This will also mark the “graduation” of some team members who are given the opportunity to apply to become workers at Summertime Surf School.
Summertime Surf’s kids’ camps are the East Coast’s premier place for kids to get started and stay involved with the surf lifestyle!