On September 1st, everything changes. Slater, Fanning, Parko, Jordy, Bede, Dane Reynolds, the Hobgoods and the whole rest of the elite 34 will be in NY for the Quiksilver Pro in Long Beach.  Make no mistake, their presence on our shores is no small event. We’ll have the best of the best on our local stage, showing us how it’s done. And the stage has the potential to test these guys like few outside our area are expecting.

Florida's Asher Nolan wins the final wildcard into the Quiksilver Pro New York.

Nolan, 32, from Jacksonville, decisively topped a field of 16 surfers vying for the wildcard in today's Quiksilver Pro New York ASP World Tour Trials, presented by UnSound Surf, supported by vitaminwater.

On the heels of Katia and on the back of yet another solid swell to hit our shores, the Belmar Pro went off in every sense of the word this past weekend. The event draws high profile locals (i.e. Sam Hammer, Andrew Gesler, Balaram Stack, Dean Randazzo), as well as, international pros (i.e. the Coffin brothers, Shea Lopez) who are after the points and prestige as much as the cash. It’s NJ’s biggest surf party with heaps of vendors, food, give-aways, stickers for the kiddies and bands. This ain’t your neighborhood comp. It’s serious. It’s respected. It’s the real deal. On top of everything else, this year TheSurfersView.com webcasted the finals!

Volcom Stone’s Jelly Fish Surf Series took place in Seaside Heights this past weekend at the North side of the Casino Pier. This absolutely FREE surf event is one of the many stops on the “Totally Crustaceous Surf Tour”. Prize hungry surfers from all over our region showed up with their game faces on , battling it out for not only recognition, but for a check worth for $500 in the Pro Am division!

The Ninth Annual Garden State Grudge Match took place on Thursday Oct 20^th at the North Side of Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, NJ. The organizer, Rob Cloupe, waited for and picked a perfect day to throw the event, as the waves were absolutely pumping with 3-5ft+ sets with a few bombs in between. This contest was winner-take-all, with a $3,500 purse.  Local Sam Hammer dominated the day with some of the best barrels ever seen in the contest history.  Hammer took the belt and now holds the Title.

New Jersey Professional surfers Dean Randazzo and Sam Hammer were in attendance at BlueClaws Surf Night, presented by Surf Taco,  this past Thursday at FirstEnergy Park.

The Arnette's 2011 Cash Pot Surf Series stopped off at the Casino Pier in Seaside Heights on Saturday March 10th.  Arnette’s new regional surf series offered a great time for local surfers who wanted to enjoy the free contest entrance and surf to claim the Cash Pot! After a fun day of consistent, chest high+ surf, the final heat came down to Margate's Zach Humphreys and Maryland's Vince Bollinger surfing against locals Clay Pollioni and Sam Hammer. Everyone was surfing hard, but Clay picked off a solid set right next to the pier and absolutely stole the show with his heat winning barrel.

I recently had the pleasure of sitting down with Sam Hammer--one of the most accomplished pro surfers ever to come out of New Jersey. While Dean Randazzo broke the line open for pro surfers in the state, Sam took the ball and ran with it like no one else. His career spans 12 years now and there's no sign of anything slowing down anytime soon.