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Kekoa Cazimero chooses to go pro, college later
By Alyssa S. Navares
A term for clothing company Hurley International to provide close to $100,000 for college tuition is hidden among pages of surfer Kekoa Cazimero's five-year contract with the sponsor. The Kaiser High School senior will further pursue a career in professional surfing after graduating in June, but if that doesn't work out, then he has a backup plan – to attend college.
“I have always been really focused on surfing, but I think it's also important to have good grades now in high school,” 17-year-old Cazimero said. He will be graduating summa cum laude – designated for graduates with a 3.8 grade-point average and above – and 21 out of 233 seniors in his class. Cazimero currently has a cumulative 3.9 GPA.
His first step after graduation will be to compete in the World Qualifying Series and other junior pro events. Cazimero hopes to one day become a world champion surfer but said his priorities will always be God, family, education and then surfing.
This month, he will be joining the World Team during the 2007 Quiksilver International Surfing Association's World Junior Surfing Championships in Portugal. He was selected out of the state's top junior surfers, his father Turk Cazimero said, to represent Hawaii and his hometown of Waimanalo.
“It's a tough decision to put college on hold,” Turk said, “especially because he had so many scholarships and could probably go to any college he wanted.”
Kekoa received several academic scholarships and tuition waivers from colleges across the nation, while Hurley International has been paying Kekoa as a reward for his consistent 4.0 GPA throughout high school. He recently won the National Scholastic Surfing Association's $10,000 scholarship after writing an essay and maintaining above a 3.0 GPA. The association is dedicated to amateur competitive surfing and offers the scholarship to active student members as a way to help financially with post high school education and training. National and local sponsors and companies, like Ocean Pacific, Body Glove, Sex Wax and Freestyle, donate money toward the scholarship fund.
He will be renewing his contracts with sponsors Reef, Oakley Eyewear, DaKine and Hawaiian Island Creations next month. They plan to have the college education term, similar to one with Hurley International, in the contracts. He just signed two endorsement contracts with Hard Rock Café and EX Energy Drinks, companies which will pay him as their point person for sales.
“We're preparing my son for the rest of his life, not just for the moment,” Turk said. “To make it in the real world, you got to have education; got to have some brains.”
Turk, a former state champion surfer, now owns Hawaiian Hurricane Productions, which helps to promote surfing events like the Vans Triple Crown of Surfing and numerous concerts and shows in the state. His wife Shari graduated from Kapiolani Community College and is a nurse at Kaiser Permanente Hospital.
One year, his parents decided that Kekoa could not compete in the NSSA Nationals, despite upsetting his sponsors, because he had an orientation for Saint Louis Middle School.
Should he go to college later, Kekoa wants to major in business or technology and still wants to work with the surfing industry.
He is currently taking Advanced English, Physics and Global Studies. His favorite subject is English, and he said that although Global Studies is his hardest class, he finds it the most interesting. His class recently watched “An Inconvenient Truth,” a documentary film about climate change and global warming by former U.S. Vice President Al Gore.
Kekoa related the movie to his experience traveling around the world. He has been to countries such as Bali, Tahiti, Mexico, Indonesia, New Zealand and Australia, finding education outside of the classroom as well. He learns from the different types of people and cultures, including the natural beauty of each place.
In July, he won the NSSA National Open Men's championship in California, competing against people from every coast. Surfers Dusty Pane, Casey Brown, Clay Marzo and Granger Larsen were in his heat, all of which had already won a national title in previous years. While many called Kekoa the dark horse because of his unexpected win, his father knew he would take the title from the beginning.
“The last two minutes of his heat were the longest two minutes of my life,” Turk said while watching his son on the beach at Trestles. “But to see him win was huge and unbelievable. I knew how hard he worked for it.”
Kekoa opened up the 35-minute final with a solid 6.0 ride, getting him in rhythm from the start. His father described the final moments before the horn sounded: “Trestles is famous for going in lulls, but then a big set came, and Casey Brown was going for the wave,” he said. “Kekoa had priority because he was in the inside, and pretty soon everyone was congratulating me and carrying him over their shoulders.”
Kekoa celebrated his win by eating cheeseburgers, fries and drinking chocolate shakes with his father, 12-year-old brother Keanu “Boo Boo” and a few friends. Oakley Eyewear gave him a watch with his name engraved on it. He chose not to be sponsored by any additional companies because he “wanted to be loyal to the people who helped [him] from the start.”
On April 14, he took first in the junior men's division at the Hawaii Amateur Surfing Association contest at Ehukai Beach. And in March, he was named the NSSA Hawaii conference champion in his division.
“Koa Boi,” as his family and friends call him, started surfing when he was seven years old. His father pushed him on his first waves at Cockroach Bay, also known as Baby Makapuu. Today he surfs at Ala Moana Bowls or Sandy Beach with his friends and brother. He also has a 5-year-old sister they call “Lani Girl.”
“I like those places because they are lefts,” said Kekoa, a goofy foot surfer, “and they're super rippable.”
He will continue to train for upcoming competitions by surfing everyday, running around Koko Head Crater, training with medicine and isometric balls and swimming.
When he's not in the water, Kekoa enjoys playing poker while spending time with his friends. He also models with DPK Development, an agency representing models who work with Revlon, Abercrombie & Fitch, Armani Exchange and Quiksilver.
His father agrees that surfing is his passion and said, “Although he put college on hold for now, that window of opportunity to surf pros is there for him.”