'friendship and camraderie both in and out of the water'

Been Cruzing for 25 years! 1983-2008

Big Stick Surfing Association (BSSA) is a surf club in Santa Cruz, California, USA providing great opportunities to engage the surfing community in a new way. We provide community service opportunities, fun events like beach barbeque's, competition experience, surf movie nights, and monthly meetings. Big Stick focuses on the Aloha spirit whether you be in the water freesurfing or competing in any of the contests that we attend.

BSSA puts together clinics to improve your technique, holds scrimmages to provide a no-pressure introduction to competition and hosts our classic surfboard contest, the Logjam! Our membership ranges from professional surfers to beginners across all age groups.

Do you want to join the club, email us or learn more about Big Stick by reading through the Club Info. Send us your suggestions, stories, pictures or video and find out where your volunteer help is needed!

2008 Membership fees are now due. Tax deductible checks or cash for $35 and greater amounts are always welcome, $20 for seniors and students.

Contact

Website: http://www.bigsticksurfing.org
Email: mailto:info@bigsticksurfing.org
Address: BSSA, PO Box 2822, Santa Cruz, CA
Federal ID: 77-0478438 (for tax deductible donations)

Mission

The Big Stick Surfing Association (aka BSSA or Big Stick) was formed in 1983 by a group of Santa Cruz surfers looking for both a social and community service club. Big Stick has evolved to also incorporate competitive surfing and hosting the annual Logjam old board, no cord contest. Browse through the Big Stick Surfing Association Constitution and Bylaws.

Why

Big Stick provides a great opportunity to engage the surfing community in a new way. There are community service opportunities, fun events like beach barbeque's, surf movie nights, and monthly meetings. Big Stick is both a freesurfing club and a competition club. We also host numerous clinics to improve your technique and a fun scrimmage in December to get a no-pressure introduction to competition as well as our classic surfboard contest, the Logjam every April. Our membership ranges from professional surfers to beginners and from 9 years old to 75.

How

Big Stick memebership is extremely coveted and difficult to achieve given the qualifications required (just kidding). If you feel up to the challenge, please come to a Big Stick event (see the calendar) or contact us. To summarize: you need to attend 3 events (meetings, contests or scrimmages, etc), pay $35, tell a surf story at a meeting and get sworn in by the Kahuna

Qualifications:

- the Aloha spirit must flow within (see our motto at the top)
- attend 3 events (meetings, contests, scrimmages, etc)
- pay $35 annual dues ($20 for students and seniors)
- tell a surf story at one of our monthly All Hands meetings
- get sworn in at said meeting

If you have made it this far, then get your membership started with some paperwork, which you can review, fill out and return to us via email or USPS back to:
BSSA, PO Box 2822, Santa Cruz, CA 95063-2822
welcome message, application, event tracker and pledge

We do offer family memberships too, and it is really easy: when one person joins Big Stick, the whole family is in!

Club History

• July 1983 -While waiting for a set wave at Cowells, Mike DeGregorio, surfing with a buddy Cliff Ellyn, came up with a dream for a “surfing social club”. Cliff’s input was “why not have a community service aspect to the club, so that it respects the sea”.
  
  This spirit is embodied in the Club motto/dedication: "Friendship and camaraderie in and out of the water."

• Dec. 10 1983: Once Mike D. developed the club mission, bylaws and all that necessary stuff, the first meeting of the Big Stick Surfing Association was held in Santa Cruz. Twenty-four (24) charter members were sworn in. This included four De Gregorios, the Ellyns, Peter Ogilvie, Gary Miles, Gary Silberstein, and Mike Watson. The club t-shirt was distributed to members with a newly designed Big Stick logo.

• First Club Photo taken at the Cowells stairs (April 1984), which was accompanied by a head high swell.

• In 1988 Ward Smith with a committee of Mike DeGregorio, Marty Weeland, Howard Gertz, and Russ Beggs developed a concept of the world’s first “old Board” contest. Soon this becomes an end of April Surf O Rama contest at Pleasure Point.

• Many BSSA surfing surfaris took place in the '80s and early '90s to Jalama, Baja California, and Hawaii, many organized by Ward Smith.

• Early 1990 marks the Big Stick marching team in the July 4th parade at Aptos and meetings at Krazy’s Sports Bar in Aptos.

• Community service for Big Stick included regular highway cleanup in Aptos on Route 1, and support for the Big Stick Scholarship Fund started by Russ Beggs.

• Although not formed as a competition driven surf club, contest directors such as Al Sehorn and Mike Young help make Big Sticks presence known at Coalition of Surf Club contests up and down California coast. This reaches an apex of 1998 and 1999 when Big Stick is fourth in annual ranking among all Coalition surf clubs and the team wins the Memorial Day Contest at Steamer Lane in Santa Cruz.

• 2001 - After a dozen years of Surf-O-Rama, Big Stick renames the Old Board Contest as Big Stick Logjam! Past Old Board winners included such names as Wingnut (4 time winner), Joel Tudor, Bob Pearson, Jay Moriarity, Dane Perlee, and Michel Junod

• Big Stick mourns loss in the water in 2001 and 2002 of two of its great young surfers Jay Moriarity and Jeff “Govie” Plucy.

• With summer beach parties, Big Stick continues to develop the family oriented social club.

• In the spirit of camaraderie in and out of the water Big Stick at its home break at Pleasure Point has formed alliances with the Dirt Farm crew and the Pleasure Point Night Fighters. Also the Big Stick Christmas Holiday Scrimmage has evolved in the last several years into the early December “Gathering of the Tribes” fun contest and Holiday party with other Nor Cal longboard surf clubs.

Big Stick Presidents

Mike DeGregorio (1984/86)
Peter Ochs (1986)
Jim Lucas (1987/88)
Kyle Catterlin (1989-90)
Cy Lucas (1991)
Mike Young (1992-95)
Pete Ogilvie (1996-2000)
Bruce Arthur (2000)
Butch Colyear (2001-03)
Tom Radich (2004-05)
Gioni Pasquinelli (2006-07)
Kackie Cohen (2008-present)