Youth and Scholarships
Every kid deserves
a shot at the shorebreak.
Schools, after-school beach clinics, stipends, sponsored memberships and real leadership roles. GSF is building a pathway that starts at $10 a year and never turns a young athlete away for lack of money.
Schools and Youth
The School
Skimboarding Program
Most kids never get introduced to skimboarding at all. The School Skimboarding Program changes that by bringing the sport into education itself: through coastal high schools, surf teams and physical-education programs first, and eventually inland schools throughout Orange County and beyond.
- Coastal high schools and existing surf teams as the entry point
- Physical-education programs that put boards in students' hands
- Expansion to inland schools throughout Orange County and beyond
- Trained GSF instructors delivering every session
The Long Game
A national ambition
School programs are step one of a long-term national expansion. GSF is working toward mobile skim programs in every US state, permanent school programs, and an accessible pathway that carries a young person from beginner participation all the way to professional competition.
- Mobile skim programs in every US state
- Permanent school skimboarding programs
- An accessible beginner-to-professional pathway
- A generation that grows up with the sport
After-School Beach Clinics
The bus leaves the parking lot.
The ocean does the rest.
Plenty of students live thirty minutes from the beach and have never stood on a skimboard. The After-School Beach Clinic Program transports students from inland schools to weekly, instructor-led beach clinics using organized bus routes, provided equipment, clear safety procedures and reliable return-home schedules.
A clinic day, start to finish
Pickup at school
Organized bus routes collect students directly from their inland schools after the final bell, with rosters checked at boarding.
Gear and safety briefing
On the sand, students are fitted with equipment and walked through the day's beach-safety and ocean-awareness briefing before anyone touches the water.
Instruction in small groups
Trained GSF instructors run the session in small groups, matching drills and progression to each student's experience level.
Session debrief
The clinic closes with a debrief: what each rider learned, what comes next, and gear returned and accounted for.
Return-home schedule
Buses run a set return-home schedule so families know exactly when and where their kids come back, every week.
Built for Parents to Trust
Safety is the whole design
Every clinic runs on documented procedures, not improvisation. Trained instructors lead each session, and the same safety standards that govern GSF events govern every after-school clinic.
- Trained, GSF-developed instructors at every session
- Beach-safety and ocean-awareness briefing before every session
- Equipment provided and maintained by the program
- Organized transportation with set routes and schedules
- Consistent athlete-safety procedures across all clinics
Youth Athlete Assistance
Talent is everywhere.
Money is not.
Youth Athlete Stipends provide funding that helps young athletes cover the real costs of the sport, so a family's budget never decides who gets to compete.
Participation
Program fees, clinics and session costs covered so young athletes can simply show up and ride.
Transportation and travel
Help getting to the beach, to clinics and to events, including travel for competition.
Equipment
Boards and gear for young riders whose families cannot cover the cost of equipment on their own.
Event-related expenses
Entry and event-related expenses covered so competition is decided on the sand, not at signup.
Youth Athlete Membership
$10 a year. Assistance available.
Youth Athlete Membership costs $10 per year for athletes under 18, and financial assistance is available. GSF's commitment is simple and absolute: no young athlete should be excluded solely because their family cannot afford membership. Sponsored memberships may be available.
How Sponsorship Works
One gift, one young athlete
- Supporters sponsor youth memberships directly
- Donations fund stipends, gear and access
- Supporting Members underwrite youth programs year-round
- Every sponsored membership welcomes a young athlete into the worldwide GSF community
GSF is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt public charity, EIN 42-3150113. Contributions are tax deductible to the extent allowed by law.
Sponsored Memberships
Put a kid on the roster
A sponsored membership is one of the most direct gifts in sport: a supporter covers a young athlete's membership, and that athlete gets a member number, a certificate and a place in the Federation. Donors and Supporting Members fund that access every year.
Young Leaders Program
The next generation is not just competing.
They are building the federation.
Indy, Bunny, Natan, Ariel and other young people hold meaningful roles inside GSF right now. Not token titles, real work: the kind of contribution that teaches a young person what it means to own a piece of something bigger than themselves.
Athlete outreach
Young Leaders connect with riders on the sand and online, welcoming new athletes into the GSF community peer to peer.
Photography collection
They gather the images that tell the sport's story, building the visual record of skimboarding as it grows.
Event support
From setup to athlete check-in, Young Leaders help GSF events run, learning event operations from the inside.
Membership
They help grow the member community, signing up friends, teammates and families who want a stake in the sport's future.
International promotion
Young Leaders carry the GSF story to riders in other countries, helping build the worldwide community one connection at a time.
Room to grow
The program expands with its people. As new young people step up, GSF makes room for what they want to contribute.
This is what a federation looks like when it is built with young people instead of just for them. The kids helping launch GSF today will be the athletes, coaches, judges and leaders it belongs to tomorrow.
Open the Door for a Kid
Sponsor a young athlete.
Or bring GSF to your school.
Ten dollars covers a youth membership for a year. A donation funds stipends, gear and bus routes to the beach. A conversation with your school starts a program. Pick your way in.