Soul Surfer: A True Story of Faith, Family, and Fighting to Get Back on the Board

by Bethany Hamilton

  one tough girl

  My brothers play very aggressive sports such as roller hockey, soccer, and paintball. When people pick sides, everyone wants my brothers on their team because they are so fast and fierce!

  When I saw them playing all these sports, I of course had to play along. I mean why should they have all the fun? And to their credit, they always let me, and never treated me like a little girl. I was one of the boys, and if it meant I got tackled or tumbled or bruised, then that came with the territory. Besides, I could take it! They knew that they could get me to try stuff like in-line skating and skateboarding and I wouldn’t back away or cry if I went down.

  My brothers pushed me to try things that I might not have done on my own. It was my brothers Timmy and Noah who got me to start surfing Pauaeaka. Honestly, at the time it would have been too scary for me without their encouragement and their absolute faith that I could do it, no sweat!

  My brothers cheer me on and are really rooting for me to become a top woman’s surfer. My family is like that: when one of us wins a contest or a prize, it’s like all of us won, because we all supported each other and helped get that person to the place where they could win.

  We were also taught to be good losers. No matter how good you are, sooner or later you or your team is going to lose. Dad would tell us, “There’s no sense in getting upset or being sore. There’s always another opportunity to show you can do it.” So that’s what I try to remind myself if I blow a competition. It’s over; move on. Tomorrow’s another day.

  Even though I’ve surfed ever since I was five years old, I played other sports, too. I started soccer when I was in the first grade with a team of North Shore girls. For a long time I was put in a defensive position, a sweeper. At first I was disappointed. I desperately wanted to be the one to score the goal during the game. Then I realized that the coach put me where I was for a reason. I had quick reflexes and was a good blocker. One thing I learned about team sports: no one job is more more important than the others. You all have to work together. I played soccer for six years before getting the chance to score that goal. That’s a long time, I know, but it just made scoring even sweeter.

  my first big win

  My parents started signing me up for surf competitions while I was still in grade school. Most of these contests were “push and ride” types of competitions where a parent will push the kid into a wave instead of the kid having to try and catch the wave themselves.

  By the time I was seven years old I was able to surf and catch waves without my parents’ help. I still needed to be coached, but I was getting better and better every day. With my parents’ support, I decided to enter the Rell Sun contest on the island of Oahu. This was big, especially for an eight-year-old kid.

  Traveling around the State of Hawaii isn’t all that easy or cheap. We had to come up with money for the entry fee, airline tickets, car rental, food, and hotel costs. And unlike with golf or some other sport, if you win, there is little or no money, especially in the kid and girl divisions.

  The contest was being held at Makaha Beach. There were lots of great surfers there, and as I looked around, I felt superexcited to be with everyone. The surfing community, especially in the kids’ division, is like one big happy family.

  The waves were big and I could feel the adrenaline rush. A lot of young kids get intimidated when the surf starts getting huge. Me? I live for it—the bigger the better! Makaha was not a place I had ever surfed before, and that gave the advantage to local kids, who knew the spot better. But I didn’t let that scare me either.

  I entered in two divisions, the girls ages seven to nine short board, and the seven to nine long board. The oldest kid in the contest was twelve, because the Rell Sun contest is designed to be for kids under thirteen, or “groms,” as they are called in the surfing world.

  One of the girls surfing that day, Carrisa Moore, was really good and I admired her toughness. She would have won the contest but she had an accident that actually put a deep cut on her throat with the fin of her surfboard. We were at the contest with a bunch of other Christian families, so we all got together and prayed for her.

  things get rolling

  Then it was time for my heat. My mom told me where to take off. I surfed pretty well that day and ended up winning all my heats and the division championships. My prize, other than trophies, was two brand new surfboards. Guys who were surf legends presented me with them while my friends and family gathered around and cheered. I was pretty stoked. And I remember thinking, “Is this really happening to me?”

  Winning that contest kind of got things rolling for me. I entered more and more contests and did pretty well in most of them. I entered the Haleiwa Menehune Contest, which is held on the famous North Shore of Oahu. (Menehunes are a legendary race of little bitty people in Hawaiian folklore.) I found that I was competing against the same kids as before, which was great, because we all got to know each other, and I made some great new friends. These contests, while competitive in the water, are actually fun, happy events where winning is secondary to enjoying the surf, the beach, and all the companionship.

  And no one really gets cocky like in other competitive sports. There’s no, “I’m the best and you can’t touch me.” Because we all know so many things can happen while you are in the water: nature can play games with you, or your timing can simply be off. So anyone can take home a trophy—and if you lose, there’s always tomorrow.

  A lot of times I have to surf in the same heat as my friend Alana. We both try hard to beat each other. There are never any hard feelings from the one that loses, and we are happy for the other if she wins. It’s just a sport, nothing to get all stressed out about. Today, I have the same attitude, although as I get older, the contest scene gets a bit more intense. The stakes are higher: bigger money, more sponsorship and endorsement deals.

  As I started winning more contests, it seemed possible that I might be able to become a professional surfer as a couple of other girls from my island have done. At least my parents and my brothers thought so. I didn’t let my head go there right away. Instead, I just wanted to enjoy the moments while I was living them and not worry too much about the future.

  My brother Noah became my promoter. He created a great résumé for me and mailed it off to various surf companies. He set up Web sites and computer programs; he takes photos and even helps me with surfboard design so that I will get a board made specifically for the kind of surfing I do. He contacted surf gear and clothing companies and he sent promotional packs to anyone in the surfing industry he could think of. Since he loves surf photography and went to college to study business, he’s a natural salesman. He was the one who helped me get my sponsor: Rip Curl.

  People ask me all the time my secret to winning a competition. Beats me. All I can tell you is that it’s a combination of perfecting your skill and keeping a positive outlook. I don’t get nervous or stressed out before a contest. In fact, other than going out and surfing the spot before the contest, I don’t even think about it much. I study the waves briefly before a contest to help me plot my strategy. Based on what I observe, I pick out a marker on the beach to line up with, and figure out the best place to take off.

  Sometimes I make a bad move, and when I do, and I lose a heat as a result, I have to admit I get bummed out and down on myself. “Bethany, you have to get over it,” my dad will tell me. So I take his advice and try to shake it off so that I can focus on what’s ahead. He has also taught me the importance of learning from my mistakes. I make sure to break any bad habits before they begin.

  Because I’m still an amateur, I don’t get money for winning a contest but I do have the opportunity to make money from my sponsors if I place high. But dollar signs aren’t what it’s all about for me. Once in a while, someone forgets that a surf contest is really about having fun, and that really spoils it for everyone. I hate to feel that negative energy. At one contest, a dad was screaming at his daughter because she wasn’t surfing well.
I felt really bad for her. What does that accomplish anyway? Wouldn’t a little encouragement have worked better?

  My family is great on that front: they’re my number one fans. Win or lose, they think I’m awesome, and I know I have their love and support no matter how I place in a contest. Both my folks just dabbled in competition, and neither of my brothers cares to enter contests. So I guess that makes me the star competitor of the family—not that it gets me out of doing my chores at home!

  My favorite surf spots are:

  Pine Trees—Hanalei, Kauai, Hawaii

  Trussels—San Clemente, California

  Bells Tourquay—Australia

  Popoya-Santana—Nicaragua

  And my FAVORITE . . .

  Hanalei Pier—In Kauai, where I learned!

  make way for the women

  More and more girls have started surfing, which means that they are finally being taken seriously as athletes and can actually make a living at this sport, something that was nearly impossible a decade ago. Today, there are even magazines aimed specifically toward women surfers.

  Women on the pro surf tour are a very tight-knit bunch, and they’re all very dedicated. The girls on the amateur circuit (which is what I surf) are on pretty good terms as well, although there are a lot more of us nowadays, so I can’t say I’m tight with everyone just yet. But I love to meet new people and get to know them.

  I don’t know what other girls do before they go out in a heat, but for me the routine is pretty simple: I pray. I pray for safety for everyone and I pray for wisdom in my wave selection and the ability to be at the right place at the right time.

  People often ask me if I had ever been hurt surfing before my accident. Actually surfing is a pretty safe sport: if you fall, you hit water, which is much better than, say, being a skateboarder and smacking down on the hard pavement. Once or twice I got held down for a long time in big surf. This is not really the same as getting hurt, but for a few minutes you become a little panicky and the thought “I might drown” enters your mind. Then the wave lets you up again and you can breathe and you forgot you were scared.

  Most surfers get injured from their own surfboard or someone else’s board. Once I was playing in the shorebreak and got slammed by my board. It hurt so bad that I stayed out of the water for several days. You know it would take a lot to keep me from surfing—I was one big bruise. Other times, a big wave will bounce you off the bottom, and if the bottom happens to be coral . . . well, let’s just say that you’re not a pretty sight with all those cuts and slices.

  Bumps, bruises, reef rash . . . hey, it comes with the territory. I’ll take it all and then some. . . . as long as I can surf.

  4

  a mostly

  normal life

  I have a mostly normal life.

  Mostly normal because I have a lot of the same interests as most fourteen-year-olds: music, movies, and driving my older brothers crazy. But in some ways my life is pretty different. Take for instance living three thousand miles from the rest of the United States.

  Having a home on a tiny island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean isn’t for everybody. There are no big shopping malls, only a couple of movie theaters, no ice-skating rinks, no miniature golf or go-cart places. We have only one road to get around on, and if there is a traffic accident half the island can be blocked from getting anywhere for a long, long time.

  It’s such a small place that you get to know lots of people and can have friends all over the island. We always joke that if a kid gets in trouble in school, the parents know about it before the kid gets off the school bus. But the smallness also has its advantages: if your car breaks down on the side of the road, chances are good that someone you know will come by real soon and help out.

  People who have lived their whole life in a big city don’t always understand what my life here is like—or why I wouldn’t want to, say, move to L.A. or New York or some other fast-paced city where there’s lots of action and excitement. Here’s what I think: you make your own adventure in life. And I truly believe that if you open your eyes to your surroundings, there’s lots of neat stuff to be found practically anywhere on earth. For me, the grass is never greener outside of Hawaii. If you ask me my favorite things about my home, I can think of dozens. But my top three are pretty easy:

  1. It’s never cold. I wear shorts and a T-shirt almost all year long. It’s even warm at Christmastime. In fact, our family Christmas tradition is to get up early and go surfing and then come back and open gifts. We like to do this because there are almost always good waves that time of year, and the best surf spots are uncrowded because everyone else is home looking under the tree!

  2. There’s always something to do. Especially if you love the sand and surf like I do. When there are no waves or when I am done surfing I like to pick shells on the beach, snorkel over the reef, swim around with the sea turtles, or go swimming at a natural lava rock swimming pool called Queen’s Bath, which is filled every high tide with saltwater. Sometimes my friends and I hike to the waterfall at Hanakapi’ia.

  3. Bananas and papayas. They grow all over the place here, even in my backyard. And honestly, I could eat them for breakfast, lunch, and dinner seven days a week. There is nothing like a papaya right off the tree, ripe and ready to eat. I’m a pretty good smoothie chef: my papaya smoothies are legendary and I do tend to add papaya to almost every dish (it just makes it taste better). Which isn’t to say I’m a health food freak. Far from it: I have a soft spot for vanilla ice cream with sliced bananas sprinkled with cinnamon, root beer floats, and chocolate!

  That said, the rest of my life here probably won’t sound that out of the ordinary to you. I like to watch old TV programs. One of my favorite shows is Leave It to Beaver. I don’t know why, but I really like that program. The Beaver is this sweet, innocent kid who’s always getting into trouble. He just makes me laugh. I also love to watch Animal Planet, Mr. Ed, The Simpsons, Malcolm in the Middle, and SpongeBob Squarepants.

  Because everybody in the family loves to surf, sometimes we all just sit around watching surf movies. When I say surf movies I am not talking about dumb Hollywood attempts to show surfing, but hard core surf movies that have no plot, just lots and lots of surfing by the world’s hottest surfers. And I love to watch the movie Finding Nemo!

  There is a whole gang of us who do things together: Kayla, Noelane, Michelle, Camille and Jackie, Kaylee, Kyae, Summer, and of course, Alana. At Alana’s house we sometimes hose down her trampoline and squirt liquid soap all over it. Then we tie plastic bags on our feet and jump—or try to jump. Usually we end up sliding all over the place laughing our heads off.

  When a bunch of us get together we often play an old street game called kick the can. One time, the can got kicked into a little green area, so we chased it in and started stomping around, until we were in somebody’s garden. I don’t think they appreciated us wrecking their plants, but we were having such a fun time, I swear we didn’t notice!

  Once in a while we will play ding-dong ditch. This is a game where you ring somebody’s doorbell and then run away as fast as you can so they can’t catch you. One time we played this on Andy Irons, who had just won the world title in surfing and lives a few doors away from Alana. He finally caught us but he wasn’t mad. Probably ’cause he used to do the same thing a few years ago when he was a teenager.

  I consider myself quite the practical joker. We do all kinds of crazy pranks at our winter camp, like raiding the boys with shaving cream. Once in a while, I get in trouble for getting a little out of hand and have to go and apologize. But the guys that run the camp understand because they like to play jokes themselves.

  When it rains a lot (and sometimes it rains for a couple of weeks straight) we take body boards and find big, steep, wet, grassy hills to slide down. This is what I like to call tobogganing, Hawaiian style!

  Of course I do stuff with my church, the North Shore Community Church. Doing things with my Christian friends is an important part
of my life, because it really is encouraging to have others who, like me, want to be close to God.

  My parents and brothers are involved in church-related activities as well, but I would go even if they didn’t. Every week we have a thing called Rad Nite where we do fun things such as games and relays or barbecues. At the end, our leaders, Sarah Hill and Troy and Maila Gall, lead us in a short Bible study, usually about what Jesus said or did.

  We also have camps and retreats that are pretty crazy and interesting too. We combine our church with the youth group from a south side church called Kauai Christian Fellowship. That makes well over a hundred of us middle schoolers! The camps have different themes each year. This year, the staff dressed like pirates and built a shipwreck on the grounds of the camp. We even put a plank over the swimming pool. The catch: we filled the pool with water and seventy-five pounds of dog food. So if you lost a contest, you had to walk the plank and were in for a disgusting swim! We also play gross games such as turkey football (ever try tossing around an uncooked butterball?). The field is a huge sheet of plastic coated with diswashing liquid so you slip and slide all the way. But it’s not all games. We also have great rock-and-roll worship and great speakers as well as cabin quiet times and devotionals.

  Every so often I get to go with my family to the mainland for a vacation. When we do, I really like to go to amusement parks like Six Flags. I discovered I have an iron stomach. I can go on all the rides that spin you in a circle real fast without getting sick. My favorite is the Spin Out: the bottom drops out from underneath you and you’re stuck to the wall. My dad will go on most of the roller coaster rides such as the Cyclone or Colossus, but even he can’t handle the Spin Out.