Team Brazil beats team USA 2 games to 1 in the best-of-three game event in Maresias, Brazil.

The USA vs. Brazil Game Challenge Presented by Oi was held Novemeber 8-9 in fun 2-3 foot surf.

The talent packed team USA won game one (79.5-77) on Saturday by using their past Game experience to dominate the first two periods led by Shane Beschen and solid performances from Asher Nolan and Clay Marzo.

Sunday saw an increasing swell, beautiful sunny weather and the packed crowd on the beach was treated to a show of the best surfers in the world.

Team USA needed to win only one of the next two games to take the title home, but were unable to do so with the Brazilians quickly catching on to the Game format on their home-turf and simply out-surfed the Americans.

Both Teams came out fired up for Game two, with Brazil taking a one-point lead into the 3rd and final period. The Americans, were only able to put 24.5 points on the board and left the door wide open for Brazil. Heitor Alves all the secured the Game two win with a huge backside tail blast for a 9 from the judges that all but secured sending the challenge into a 3rd and final Game.

Team USA won the coin toss for Game 3 and coach CT Taylor elected to surf in the top of each period. USA started strong with a 27-point opening period led by Cory Lopez. Team Brazil answered with amazing surfing from Marcello Trekinho and the lightning quick Heitor Alves for a 29-point first period.

The second period was a bit of a shocker of the Americans, with both Tom Curren, Clay Marzo and sub Asher Nolan failing to find high scoring waves in the inconsistent surf at high tide. The Brazilians capitalized on USA's dismal second period, extending their lead to 4.5 points going into the final period.

Shane Beschen and Clay Marzo began the top of the final period with back to back 7.5's - Beschen for long running right-hander and Marzo for a mental tail-out snap to reverse that the judges rewarded for only one move. Curren and Lopez both put up strong scores to post a 27-point period score. But, the Americans were looking for something stronger to make the Brazillians work harder for the victory.

In the bottom of the final period, Team Brazil needed only 23 points to take the win. It took them only 3 1/2 minutes into the period to secure the victory with all four surfers catching scoring waves with Trekinho and Alves again leading the way throwing spray and punting airs.

When it was announced that Brazil had won, water coach Peterson "the animal" Rosa did his best He-Man impression on the back of the jet ski and rode to the beach pumping his fist in the air to the erupting crowd on the beach.

"The teamwork was fundamental. Our coaches [Pedro Muller and Peterson Rosa] knew exactly what do. We worked together to the find the best waves and perform our best, I am much happy with this victory," said Game MVP Brazil's Marcelo Trekinho.

"The Brazilian team bonded throughout the event. They learned the strategy quickly and surfed very well, so congratulations to them. I'm happy in to have participated in an event of this level," said Team USA's Tom Curren

Brad Gerlach of the National Surf League was impressed with the performance of the Brazilians as well. "They embodied completely in the spirit of the Game," he said. "It's much more than a championship to them, it's the pride of their country. Throughout the practices and opening games, I saw that they were gaining confidence and bonding as a team and that's was it took to take down Team USA".

Check out event photo gallery here

Results:

(best of 3) Brazil 2 - USA 1

Game One:
USA - 79.5
Brazil - 77

Game Two:
USA - 77.5
Brazil - 81

Game Three:
USA - 78
Brazil - 81.5

MVP - Marcelo Trekinho
Most Radical Maneuver - Clay Marzo (power blow tail off-the-top)

Team USA: Tom Curren, Clay Marzo, Shane Beschen, Cory Lopez and Asher Nolan
Team Brazil: Marcelo Trekinho, Bruno Santos, Fábio Gouveia, Heitor Alves and Danilo Grillo

http://nationalsurfleague.com/2008/11/13/brazil-beats-usa-2-to-1-in-game-challenge/

The flames of rivalries were stoked, lines were drawn in the sand (only to be erased by the high tide), and it came down to brother against brother (sort of) at the 2008 Red Bull Riders Cup National Championships. Held on the cobblestone point at Trestles known simply as "Church" (a fitting name for any western shoot-out), the swell poured through all weekend long, giving opportunity to the best high school surf squads from around the country to test both their mettle and manhood. But come finals time, crosstown rivals San Clemente High and Carlsbad High would be the only two standing.



It started with eight. Eight teams, eight of the best and brightest from their given corner of the continental U.S. Florida, New Jersey, up and down the Western Seaboard, they came to Church on Sunday with one thing on their mind, and it wasn't all that holy. They'd arrived to pummel their opponents into submission and hoist the Riders Cup. Forget the Sabbath, nobody would take a break until the last wave was ridden.
In the end, with broken boards and deflated at local adolescent egos strewn about, there would only be two teams left, two teams which maybe not-so-coincidentally have been in the middle of a border dispute over who actually lived closest to the break. Local knowledge–and a fair bit of talent–saw San Clemente High and Carlsbad High square off for the fortune and glory of it all.



By Sabbath's end Carlsbad had upended San Clemente, 78 to 83 (even though it was deemed San Clemente lived closer). "We had a solid team, you couldn't ask for better surfing conditions, the kids surf traditional contests all the time, but they really look forward to working as a team and competing at Red Bull Riders Cup," says Carlsbad coach, David Barr.



Sharpshooter and Carlsbad High MVP, Gabe Garcia drove the team to victory with his consistency throughout the entire competition. "San Clemente High was a super good team; they did some great surfing and it was close until the very end, we're pumped to be the national champions."

The Red Bull Riders Cup is not your typical surf contest. Nope, this one's actually interesting. Established in 2001 by surf luminary, Brad Gerlach, the National Surf Leauge's "Game" format, is based around a team-format, with coaches, time-outs, refs, and even classy introductions. The mantra reads "dedicated to the pursuit of surfing excellence, building awareness for the sport of surfing while creating a fun competitive landscape for all types of surfers.



"I'm really impressed with the surfing community; we've had over fifty professional surfers come out to support, coach, and referee the games," says Gerlach. "There is no other surf event that brings the professional surfing community out to help the kid's progress."



And if you didn't see all the action live from the beach, VBS.tv, home of the online surf show Hi-Shredability, has been documenting the story of the NSL and Red Bull Riders Cup since the beginning. Don't miss their documentary about the Red Bull Riders Cup, coming September 2008.



So, in the end Carlsbad High goes home the national champs, and with it comes and entire year's worth of bragging rights, which ain't half bad. But considering the talent level, repeating could prove to be a dicey proposition come next season.


National Surf League
VBS.TV
Red Bull Surfing

Defending National Champ San Deguito Academy is defeated in overtime thriller.



(May 30, 2008) - Carlsbad High beat defending Red Bull Riders Cup National Champions San Deguito Academy in an overtime thriller today at Seaside Reef.



In a competitive game both teams had great overall strategy and teamwork. Most valuable player Brent Reilly scored a 7 in the final minutes of the third period tying the score and sending the game into overtime.



San Deguito Academy only managed to score 16 points in the top of the overtime period, opening the door for Carlsbad High, led by Reilly to take the win in overtime with 3:20 remaining. San Deguito Academy was coached by professional surfer Jeremy Sherwin and San Diego legend David Barr coached Carlsbad High.



San Deguito Academy was strong again this season and proved the team to beat but Carlsbad High came on strong becoming this years regional champions.



Carlsbad High will join the seven other regional champions at the Red Bull Riders Cup National Championships June 14-15 at San Onofre Trail in San Clemente, California