There’s no other feeling like riding a wave. Watching the reef pass by below you, feeling the speed of the wave and the wind on your face, it’s addictive.
And it’s an experience that’s helped improve lives. A 2023 study found that children receiving surf therapy had greater reductions in mental health issues, while a 2021 study also found that individuals who performed activities in natural environments, like surfing, had greater control over their aggressive behaviors and emotions.
Cynthia Y.H. Derosier knows this. As founder and executive director of Surfrider Spirit Sessions, Derosier and her staff, board, and team of volunteers have been taking at-risk youths, ages 13-18, surfing in Waikiki since 2006. The nonprofit has sessions in spring, summer, and fall, and matches 45-75 youth with a positive adult role model on Oahu each year. Surfrider Spirit Sessions began as a small-scale outing, with Derosier and her surf buddies taking out a group of girls from Girl’s Court – a state-run program aimed at reducing female juvenile delinquency in at-risk youths by encouraging healthy attitudes, behaviors, and lifestyles.
“Surfing’s a metaphor for life,” says Derosier, who used her background in art, marketing, and communications to write a book about surfing called The Surfer Spirit. “You have to stay centered and paddle hard, but there’s a joy and exhilaration that you get from putting in that effort. And for many of these kids with so much trauma and so much challenge in their lives, the idea of feeling that joy from working hard is so liberating.”
Parents, teachers, and the courts all agree the program is life changing. In 2024, 100% of teens in the program showed a positive shift and improvement in three or more areas, including improved self-esteem, increased prosocial networks, caring about the environment, practicing Hawaiian culture, and good citizenry.
From writing about how they feel before and after the session in their “surfing logs” (a surf journal) to yoga classes before paddling out, teens are reminded that they’re more than the challenges they may be facing at home or in school. “We are a unicorn, and what I mean by that is our program works – and the reason it works is because it didn’t come from us,” says Derosier. “It came from the ground up, and we developed it by working with the kids and seeing what they needed from us, or what they wanted to learn about. And that includes learning about Hawaiian culture, the environment, and how to malama aina.”
More than just imparting these life lessons through surfing, Surfrider Spirit Sessions is a success because they create what Derosier calls a “surf ohana,” which is continuously formed after every session with kids, their mentors, and staff. These volunteers come from all walks of life – lawyers, construction workers, mail carriers, business owners, educators, farmers – and simply want to share the stoke of surfing with our youth. A mentor is paired with a teen for the entire eight-week session and helps them redefine how they perceive themselves by being a positive role model they can look up to.
At the end of the day, surfing is hard. Paddling is hard. Catching a wave is hard. But by the conclusion of their Surfrider Spirit Session, these teens understand that just because something is hard doesn’t mean it can’t be rewarding – and sometimes that reward is worth all the effort. “If you can walk on water, you can do anything,” says Derosier. “If you can catch water and stand up and go somewhere with it, you can be anything you want to be.”
Learn more about Surfrider Spirit Sessions at surferspirit.org, where you can also sign up for the mentorship program or donate.
Photos by Matt Heirakuji
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