New School Girl: Erica Hosseini
Feb 22 2007 / Los Angeles, CA
Erica Hosseini Graduates to the Big Time
Word around the surfing world is that the current generation of great women competitive surfers – Layne Beachley, Sofia Mulanovich, Chelsea Georgeson – are being pushed from below by a bubbling pool of teenage and young 20-something talent. There are a lot of hot girls out there, and by hot we mean not just nice to look at it in a bathing suit, but girls who can hit the lip, pull into barrels and handle whatever the ocean throws at them.
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From Newport Beach, Erica Hosseini is on the short list of these girls who are threatening to take over the WCT. Born in 1987, she began competing in the NSSA in 2000, and basically sucked, not making it out of one heat. But she hung in there, and in 2002 she entered the Foster’s Cup at Lower Trestles, and finished second – the youngest finalist in a women’s pro event ever.
By 2003 Erica was on a holy tear, winning 5 NSSA Nationals that year and a variety of pro and amateur events over the next two years. Erica graduated from high school in 2005 and now is ready to take on an ever-more-competitive world of women’s competitive surfing.
Lat34.com found her in early December after she recently returned from the North Shore of Oahu and here’s what went down.
Lat34: Since we are communicating by email, I don’t know where you are. In Hawaii?
EH: No I am back in Newport.
Lat34: Did you want to go home?
EH: No way! I was in warm water, surfing, spearfishing, and hanging out with all my friends every day. I'm back in Newport now, and it's cold, flat and no one is off of school for Christmas break so I have no friends. Haha!
Lat34: Why did you go back?
EH: Good questions. I'm kinda regretting that decision right now. Nah, I was there for a while and I needed to get home and take care of some stuff: Christmas shop, pay the bills, do all that fun stuff before I left for Australia.
Lat34: How long were you on the North Shore this time?
EH: I left for Maui on Oct. 26 to surf and spend Halloween on Front Street. Then flew over to Oahu from November 1 - 30.
Lat34: How is Maui on Halloween and what was your costume?
EH: Maui was insane on Halloween. I dressed up as "halloween" and we went to Front Street and I have never seen so many good costumes in my life!
Lat34: Do you prefer Maui to the other island?
EH: Maui is the most fun island as far as things to do, and the surf is good. I haven't been to all the islands yet, but Oahu and Maui are my favorite islands.
Lat34: Do you have friends on Maui?
EH: Yeah, I have a few friends that live over there. I stayed with Paige Alms when I was over there. She is going to travel and do the tour with me next year.
Lat34: You were on Oahu for all of November, which was not the best November in history. Did you get any waves? Did you compete? How did you do?
EH: Before this trip I wasn't that fond of the North Shore. It's usually so crowded with surfers and the weather is super finicky so it's a hard place to be for a long period of time. But this year was different, it was much more fun than I had anticipated it to be. This was the most fun I've ever had in Hawaii. There were fun waves everyday, the weather was awesome and I was lucky enough to be staying in a killer house on the beach at Sunset.
Lat34: Who did you stay with at Sunset?
EH: When the contest was going on, my mom came over and stayed with me and hung out. But after that I had the house all to myself, I got super spoiled.
Lat34: How did you do in the contests?
EH: I competed in the Op Pro at Haleiwa in the middle of the month. The waves weren't all that great for the event and I lost pretty early so that was kind of a bummer, but I got a lot of other work done while I was over there.
Lat34: What other work?
EH: My sponsors advertise in a lot of fashion magazines so I do a lot of photo shoots for Vans and Spy, and any editorials that come up try to make myself available for.
Lat34: Time for a stupid guy question. If you had to choose the cover of a fashion magazine you wanted to be on and the cover of a surf magazine, which would you choose?
EH: No worries. Cover of a glamour magazine would have to be Teen Vogue.
Cover of a surf magazine would have to be Transworld Surf.
Lat34: If you had to choose one cover, what would it be?
EH: Ah, that's a tough one... I would like both. I guess Transworld because I surf and it’s a guys magazine as well, so that would be a huge accomplishment... but Teen Vogue has a way bigger circulation so that would be awesome for me too... I guess Transworld though.
Lat34: I was reading a Trans World Surf and they had a little article on new words, and one was something like, “I got Erica Hosseinied” or something like that.
EH: Yeah, I got a BROISM. They called it the "Brosseini." I definitely take that as a compliment, I believe Cote wrote that over at Transworld. I thought it was pretty funny when I read that.
Lat34: Where did you learn to surf?
EH: I hung out at this surf shop across the street from my house all day, everyday in the summer, so naturally I was bound to try it. From there I was hooked.
Lat34: Which surf shop?
EH: The Green Room Surf Shop.
Lat34: What difficult things did you have to overcome as you were learning?
EH: When I was learning, I would have to say duck diving. I swear it took me a whole year to do it properly. I would be bailing my board left and right on every wave, paddling super fast to get to the outside.
Lat34: Did you have mentors?
EH: My brother and I started surfing at the same time and we were both extremely competitive, so that pushed me to get better faster.
Lat34: What are your ambitions as a competitor?
EH: To really understand the technicalities of competing and be the best that I can be.
Lat34: Full time on the WQS to make the WCT?
EH: Yeah, I am going to do the entire tour 2007 to try and qualify for the WCT.
Lat34: Do you think you have the talent to make the WCT?
EH: I think if I put in the practice time and dedication I can make it. You have to physically and mentally be there to compete at that level. But I do believe I have the talent.
Lat34: Who are your favorite surfer, men and women?
EH: Stephanie Gilmore, Chelsea Georgenson, Rob Machado, Mick Fanning, too many more to list.
If you could live anywhere in the world, where would that be?
EH: Australia. The weather is beautiful, the waves are always pumping, and the people are really nice (and I like their accents too!)
Lat34: How many times have you been there?
EH: I've been to Australia about 6 times, but have been all over Australia. I like the Gold Coast and Sydney the best because that's where most of my friends live and you don't have to wear a wetsuit.
Lat34: What are your plans for the rest of the winter?
EH: I'm home for Christmas and then I take off on December 28th for Australia for the World Jr. Championships in Sydney. I'll be over there all month competing in multiple events up and down the coast.
Lat34: What places have you traveled to, and what were your favorites?
EH: I've traveled too many places to list. I've hit 6 out of 7 continents, so I think I'm doing alright. My favorite place all around is probably Australia because it has everything to offer. It's got warm water, good waves, fun things do to and a good night life. Second favorite is Bali.
Lat34: What have you learned about the world through your surf travels?
EH: Always keep your confirmation papers for hotels, flights etc..... I have learned my lesson the hard way on more than one occasion.
Lat34: What is your worst travel nightmare?
EH: I've experienced some bad travel stuff. This last year I lost my passport, had to cancel my trip to South Africa and then found it the next week. OUCH! My worst travel nightmare would have to be getting stuck in a third world country by myself and not knowing anyone. That would freak me out a little.
Lat34: What places have you not gone to yet?
EH: I haven’t been to Fiji, Maldives, Greece, Philippines or the Caribbean, but I think I might scratch a few of those off the list in 2007.
--Ben Marcus
