2006 Bank of the West Beach Games Featuring the
Honda U.S. Open of Surfing Presented by O’Neill
Huntington Beach, CA
July 27-30
The 2006 U.S. Open of Surfing proved to be B4BC’s most successful educational outreach Open to date, with herds of wonderful people stopping by to say hello, share stories, and to learn early detection and prevention methods. One touching moment in particular came the first morning of the event when two sisters, 11 and 13 years old, shyly stopped by, pointed to the jelly breast molds and asked, can you teach us how to do that (referring to learn how to do a breast self-exam)? Turns out the two lovely young ladies have had several women in their family, including their mother, with the disease and wanted to take control early in life to inform themselves. Knowledge is power and it’s never too early to learn and these girls walked away with some tools that every woman should know and instill in their everyday lives. Getting a smile and big thank you from those two young girls was a great way to kick off our experience at the amazing four day event!
Our educational booth was set up again this year in the ever so fun and popular Transworld Surf Rock City Village, where our supportive neighbors included Spy Optic, etnies Girl, Fuel Tv, the Surfrider Foundation, and many more! The interactive village totes a plethora of live music and an interactive sponsor village with tons of fun contests and prize giveaways.
The U.S. Open of Surfing is the world’s largest professional surfing contest, with more than five hundred competitors ranging from men, women, juniors, pros, and amateurs from across the globe! It’s also the worlds most heavily attended surfing contest with more than 350,000 spectators cruising through during the course of the week long event, making it an exceptional educational outreach opportunity for B4BC to spread the good word!
In addition to the surf contest, The Open runs in conjunction with the Bank of the West Beach Games, where hundreds of athletes in the fields of volleyball, skateboarding, BMX, and freestyle motocross will compete.
B4BC would like to thank Transworld and IMG for their amazing continued support; we truly appreciate your solidarity! Additionally we’d like to thank our wonderful volunteers, Christine, Jennifer, Dani, Amy, and Taylor for all of their generous support! B4BC truly felt a strong and positive connection with this year’s young audience and look forward to continuing our outreach success at the U.S. Open of Surfing in the years to come!
Also, we would like to extend our warmest congratulations to long time supporter and friend Rob Machado and new friend Sofia Mulanovich for their spectacular performances as they are your 2006 U.S. Open of Surfing Men’s and Women’s Champions!
