Koa Smith Sweeps NSSA Hawaii Jr. Events

14-year-old Smith takes both the Open Juniors and Open Boys titles at the NSSA Hawaii

Cardiff-by-the-Sea, California (September 14, 2009) – Koa Smith grabs first place wins this weekend in both Open Juniors and Explorer Boys at the NSSA Hawaii Conference. Surfing at Lahaina Harbor in Maui for the NSSA, the Kauai-native came in with confidence and some new moves following a summer in Bali surfing hard, competing at the Rip Curl Padang Pandang Invitational, working on his Little Fella Designs Custom Jacket line and vacationing with his family.

“On Saturday we had full sun and some fun waves, it was fun to be back in Hawaii and see a bunch of my friends at the beach,” says Smith. “I spent the whole summer in the water and have all sorts of new tricks and I couldn’t wait to try them out this weekend.”

Saturday presented the NSSA competitors with one-to-three foot (Hawaiian style) waves. Koa out surfed in the Open Juniors ranks to top Kaoli Kahokuloa and Luke Hitchcock with some massive airs. After the contest, the Smith family celebrated with ice cream and then headed for the airport arriving back in the Garden Isle close to midnight.

October is lining up to be a busy month for Koa with a heavy contest schedule coinciding with the start of the school year. Next up, Koa heads to Sunset Beach October 1-13 for The Billabong Jr. Pro in Memory of Ronnie Burns and his next NSSA contest. His brother Alex Smith will also surf also surf in the Billabong Jr. Pro on Oahu. The next weekend, Koa will be shooting for a spot at the VQS in his backyard, Hanalei’s Pinetrees.

Not one to shy from extremes, Koa went from the tropical heat of Bali to Alaska where he finished summer break with a fishing and hunting trip. There he landed some massive salmon and took down his first caribou. The 2010 line of Little Fella Designs Jackets is looking so tight, with new designs made in Bali. Koa was on the scene to oversee the process and add his special touches. At the 2009 NSSA Governor’s Cup Banquet, Koa stoked out all the trophy winning groms with his custom jackets. Look for the review of a new 2010 jacket style written by Chris Cote, Editor of Transworld Surf, on the magazine’s “Ten Products You Need”: http://surf.transworld.net/features/10-products-you-need/10/. Cote says “If you don’t know Koa, let me start by saying he’s the raddest kid out there.”

Koa Smith is supported by Rip Curl, Nike 6.0, Smith Eyewear, Creatures of Leisure accessories, SexWax, Killer Dana Surf Shop and Xanadu Surfboards. www.littlefelladesigns.com