Cathy here - very excited to share our recent adventure with the first ever
Moore Aloha Surf Camp on O’ahu!
The Moore Aloha Charitable Foundation is a passion project of Carissa Moore's. Carissa is a professional surfer who has competed on the World Surf League Championship Tour for the past nine years and has three world titles under her belt.
Basically, she rips.
Even more inspiring than her athletic talent is her authenticity and desire to use her success as a platform to empower young girls. She founded Moore Aloha "to create an environment where girls feel free to be themselves, chase their dreams and are encouraged to make a difference in the world around them."
Carissa has several initiatives in the works - one being a coaching and mentorship program on O'ahu through which she and her dad are currently working with four young female surfers.
Another big initiative came to life this past January with the inaugural Moore Aloha Surf Camp! Through an application process that required submitting a report card, Carissa selected intermediate female surfers from ages 10-16 to take part in a weekend surf camp on the famed O'ahu North Shore.
While the girls scored world-class waves and surf instruction, they were also treated to a number of other activities. From a beach clean-up with Sustainable Coastlines Hawaii and a workout with trainer Erin Kamano, to time spent on crafts and journaling, the weekend allowed plenty of opportunity for each girl to shine.
Carissa invited us along to share our personal stories around nutrition and relationships with food, as well as to put on a Sun & Swell snack-making workshop with the girls. Unexpected nerves set in before our presentation (for me, at least!) but the girls were respectful, inquisitive and definitely followed along! We chatted about the two roles food plays in our lives - a source of enjoyment and a source of fuel. Our goal was to highlight the importance of finding balance between eating what we love and making sure we are giving our bodies what it needs to function optimally.
The talk ended with letting each girl make their own Simple Snack Bites - I think we may have a few new kitchen hires ;)
While it was undoubtedly a surf camp, the centric mission of the weekend was to foster community, not competition. The girls were encouraged to write motivational cards to each other and to get to know new faces in the group. Carissa led by example - it was awesome to see how approachable and encouraging she was to each attendee. Not a weekend any of us will be forgetting soon - we were honored to be a part of such an incredible experience. Thanks for having us, Carissa!
After the camp, we made time to explore the gorgeous island of O'ahu. From North Shore surfs to sunrise hikes in Lanikai to pounds of poké(!), we were in absolute heaven. (Except for maybe during the last 500 steps up the Koko Head Steps)