Now known as the “Phil Jackson” of surf coaches, Verdone parlayed Allen’s success and has built his program into among the most successful and winningest in the country, capturing 10 NSSA National Titles as well as a National Surf League Title in 2010. A formidable ex-football coach turned 25-plus year surf coach for Huntington Beach High School, Coach Verdone is known for his disciplinary coaching style and turning out some of the best surfers in the world. He has trained and coached some of the best surfers in Huntington Beach including the Deffenbaugh brothers, Jay Larson, Micah Byrne, Shaun Ward and Brett Simpson.

A huge part of Coach Verdone’s program is his legendary surf trips with the team to such destinations as Australia, South Africa and Ireland. He also raises funds to take students to state and national tournaments. A fixture on the southside of the Huntington Beach Pier, on any given school day, you should see Andy and his merry clan, ripping the pier!

Coach Verdone and his young globetrotters appeared in a 2007 surf documentary called “Chasing the Dream”, which follows eight kids on his squad who want to become pros. Year after year 100 students try out for his squad and only 30 make the cut. Verdone’s impact on the sport of surfing in Surf City is such that one young surfer moved here from Nantucket, Massachusetts without his family just to surf for the Huntington Beach Oilers.

2011 came and went, but injuries kept him out of several events and seemed to throttle his competitive drive, but not his desire to push the boundaries of the sport. “I don’t put too much importance on winning contests, which I think can make surfing boring,” Reynolds said in an interview. “You’ve got guys doing safe turns all the way to the beach to get a seven-point ride. I don’t see the point of that. I prefer surfing as an art as opposed to a sport. It’s such a rad thing that it’s crazy to confine it to a certain criteria.”

In one of his few mainstream media interviews, Rolling Stone opined that one of the ways to understand just how differently Reynolds sees waves-and the act of riding them-is to consider the fact that, for a guy who makes his living on the water, he spends a lot of time in the air. His athletic, acrobatic free-surf style is punctuated by unearthly aerial maneuvers and cartoonish twists and turns, running counter to the straight-ahead, power mode that seems to dominate the professional circuit today. But in Reynolds’s view, it really isn’t whether you win or lose, but rather what you do when you’re confronted with a break.

In announcing that he was leaving full-time competitive surfing, Dane posted on his website that, “Surfing is my passion in life. I always think about how lucky we are that there’s even an ocean, and it’s not too hot or too turbulent and it’s not made of acid that burns our skin off. And how lucky is it that the land tapers into the ocean in just the right way so that when lumps of energy approach from a thousand miles away they gently rise up and crash at just the perfect speed so that we can wave our little arms and match their speed and hang at the crest weightless for just a second before sliding down the face. There are tons of them (waves). They keep coming, all different sizes shapes and speeds; endless joy.”

Rabbit made his own redwood and balsa boards prior to World War II, at which time he served as an army frogman in the South Pacific. As an Army-trained underwater demolitions man, Kekai spent more than three years planting explosives on island-based enemy defenses in Micronesia, helping clear pathways for American troops. He was one of four from his 12-man platoon to return from action.

Following his return from the war, Rabbit’s surfing continued to improve and he won the Peruvian and Makaha International titles during the ’50s. He returned to his job as a beachboy, but also worked construction and as a longshoreman. Beginning in the ‘70s, Kekai worked for the annual North Shore contests. Each winter season, he can be found at every Triple Crown event, doling out jerseys, wisecracks and advice as Beach Marshall, a position he has held since the first Pipeline Masters.

Year after year he was the most active surfer in his age group, winning the United States Surfing Championships in 1973, 1980, 1984 and 1988. In the legends division of the 2000 event, surfing against men nearly 15 years his junior, the 79 year-old finished fourth. Commenting on his many accomplishments, Rabbit responds, “When you pass 500 trophies, years and years ago, you lose count.” Now in his ninth decade, his enthusiasm for talking stories, telling jokes and surfing are as strong as ever.