Gear
USA SUP-regulation race board
14′ carbon race shape sized to USA SUP rules — same class our instructors race. Yours for the season; you train on it, race on it, learn its line.
← All experiences
Performance
Race Team
The elite Performance tier — USA SUP-sanctioned race entries, race-day coaching, every interval logged to Strava. Invitation + try-out.
- Price
- $3,299 · season
- Duration
- Season + race calendar
- Who
- Youth · 12-18 · invitation-only
- Status
- ✓ Try-outs open
Performance · Race Team · invitation onlySUP Academy
Sanctioned · USA SUP competitor$3,299/ season + travel
SUP Academy
Race Team.
USA SUP-regulation boards. The pro paddles. The real circuit.
USA SUP membership · sanctioned points-earning entries · paperwork + equipment haul on us · race-day coaching from staff who line up at the same start.
You show up ready to race and ready to apply your learnings. Travel and lodging are arranged by each family.
Sanctioned · USA SUP competitorThe real deal
Not a clinic.
A race team.
You line up. You hold the line. You finish on a sanctioned, points-earning result. Every interval recorded to Strava. Every race day with a coach in your corner who's also competing that morning.
Train deliberately. Race honestly. Send it.
The 2027 team · preview
★
USA SUP
The racers
you'll line up with.
Sample posters — these are the racer archetypes the 2027 team is built around. Real athletes claim their cards as paddle tests finish. Every accepted athlete gets a full poster: USA SUP-sanctioned chip, PR stats, Strava follow.
#55★USA SUPSUP AcademyAriaT.3k17:55
#88★USA SUPSUP AcademyAugustT.5k29:08- #37★USA SUPSUP AcademyBeckettM.10k1:11:08
- #33★USA SUPSUP AcademyCruzA.3k19:34
Preview profiles · the real 2027 roster fills in as paddle tests finish. Every roster athlete is USA Surfing-affiliated in the SUP discipline.
What's in the kit
Everything
you need to race.
Gear
Pro carbon-fiber paddle
Adjustable, race-tuned blade. Same paddle the pros run on the USA SUP circuit. Sized to your reach.
Membership
USA SUP membership
Full annual membership covered. You’re a sanctioned competitor — every race counts toward national rankings and Team USA selection.
Entries · paperwork
Sanctioned race entries
Selected in-state Arizona + California sanctioned, points-earning races. Registration fees and the paperwork are covered by the team. You show up to race.
Logistics
Equipment haul
We transport your race board, paddle, and PFD to every team race — no roof racks, no U-Haul, no figuring it out. Just meet us at the venue with your kit bag.
Coaching
Race-day coaching
Pre-race start-line strategy, mid-race tactical adjustments through the chute, post-race film + GPS review. Instructors who race the same heat as you.
Data
Every session on Strava
Heart rate, pace, splits, route. Build a real training log; we’ll point at the data when we coach you. Same tools the world’s top paddlers use.
What you arrange
Travel, lodging, and the drop-off.
- →Travel and lodging for every race weekend — hotels, flights, gas, meals, weekend logistics.
- →Get your athlete to the race on race morning. Coach will be at warm-up — they meet your athlete at the venue. Coach is competing too; they aren't free to caravan or chaperone.
The team handles everything that gets your athlete to the start line ready to race: gear, membership, entries, paperwork, equipment haul, and the coaching.
Performance · Race Team · Curriculum
Train deliberately. Race honestly. Recover hard.
Race Team is a 12-month training arc, not a clinic. The curriculum is built around four blocks — base, build, race, recover — repeated through the season around the sanctioned race calendar. Every workout has a stated intention; every interval logged to Strava; every race-day decision (start-line position, line choice, draft tactics) coached live by staff who are racing the same heat.
What you/they leave with
- ACA-progression stroke mechanics held under race-pace heart rate (catch, power, exit, recovery — same side and switch)
- USA SUP-regulation board control: pivot turns, buoy turns, draft entry/exit, cross-bow turns at speed
- Race-day tactical literacy: start-line strategy, line selection by water/wind, drafting protocol, finish-chute decisions
- Training-log discipline: every session tagged in Strava with heart rate, pace, splits — the data trail the next coach reads
- Sanctioned race entries with paperwork handled — every result counts toward USA SUP national rankings + Team USA pathway
Detailed syllabi + downloads
The investment
One number.
No surprises.
SUP Academy Race Team · 2027 season
$3,299/ season · per athlete
Paid before the first team session. Payment plans available on request — just ask when we extend the spot.
Covered by the team
- ✓USA SUP-regulation 14′ carbon race board for the season
- ✓Pro carbon-fiber paddle, sized to your reach
- ✓USA SUP annual membership (sanctioned competitor status)
- ✓Race entries for the team calendar — all USA SUP points-earning
- ✓Registration paperwork on us
- ✓Equipment haul to every team race (boards travel with us)
- ✓Race-day coaching from staff who line up at the same start
- ✓Weekly Strava review + season-long PR tracking
On the family
- +Travel + lodging for race weekends (each family books their own)
- +Meals + ground transport at races
- +Drop-off to the venue on race morning — coach is warming up
Plan on a few weekend trips a year. Hano Hano, Havasu, Nationals — rough family budget is hotel + gas/flights + meals.
Roster is small. Joshua reads every application personally and replies within 10 days.
The race calendar
Where you'll
line up.
The 2026 season ordered by date, capped by the Jan 2027 opener. Flagships marked. Mix of national championship qualifiers (USA Surfing for the ISA lane, USA SUP for the ICF lane) plus Arizona + California open-ocean classics. Every start line with a coach next to you.
Entry fees, paperwork, and board haul to the venue are covered. Travel, lodging, meals and weekend logistics are arranged by each family.
ConfirmedNewport Aquatic Center · multi-craft (long 11 mi · short 4 mi · board 6 mi)
NAC Hal Rosoff Classic
Newport Aquatic Center · Newport Beach, CA
2026
Sat Feb 14, 2026
2027
Feb 2027 (est.)
30th annual edition of a long-running SoCal open-ocean classic out of the Newport Aquatic Center. Multi-craft course with three distances; ocean-paddle racing community staple. Entry + paperwork + board haul covered · your family arranges travel and lodging.
ConfirmedDana Outrigger Canoe Club · multi-craft ocean (SUP · paddleboard · OC · ski)
Tom Davis Ocean Challenge
Baby Beach · Dana Point Harbor, CA
2026
Sat Mar 14, 2026
2027
TBA
Ocean course with multiple distances + craft classes, hosted by the Dana Outrigger Canoe Club in memory of Tom Davis. Entry + paperwork + board haul covered · your family arranges travel and lodging.
Flagship
ConfirmedUSA SUP · AZ series
Havasu Heat
Lake Havasu, AZ
2026
Sat Mar 28, 2026
2027
Sat Mar 27, 2027 (est.)
Hometown opener. Long-distance flatwater. Where the team puts in the most miles together. Entry + paperwork + board haul covered · your family arranges travel and lodging.
Flagship
ConfirmedTeam USA selection event · ISA World Championships qualifier
USA Surfing SUP & Prone Nationals + Team USA Trials
Oceanside Pier · CA
2026
Thu–Fri Jun 11–12, 2026
2027
Jun 2027 (est.)
The big one on the ISA lane. National Championships + Team USA Trials over two days of elite open-ocean SUP + prone competition. Junior (U18) and Open divisions; selection event for world-team representation at the ISA World SUP & Paddleboard Championship. Entry + paperwork + board haul covered · your family arranges travel and lodging.
ConfirmedTahoe Waterman · alpine downwind championship
Tahoe Downwind Championships
Waterman's Landing · Lake Tahoe, CA
2026
Sat Aug 28, 2026
2027
TBA
Point-to-point downwind run along Tahoe's West Shore at 6,200 ft elevation — the premier downwind event of the year for SUP, prone paddleboards, OC1, and surfskis. Entry + paperwork + board haul covered · your family arranges travel and lodging.
Flagship
ConfirmedUSA SUP / ACA national selection · ICF World Championships qualifier
USA SUP National Championships · Narrows Challenge
Gig Harbor, WA
2026
Fri–Sun Sep 18–20, 2026
2027
Sep 2027 (est.)
The big one on the ICF lane. Three-day national championship covering Sprint, Technical, and Long Distance. Junior (U18) division — top finishers earn ACA SUPCC selection for the Team USA squad that races at ICF SUP Worlds. Entry + paperwork + board haul covered · your family arranges travel and lodging.
EstimatedRiverbound Sports · multi-craft (SUP · OC · relay)
Another Dam Race
Pirate's Den · Parker, AZ
2026
Sat Nov 14, 2026 (est.)
2027
Sat Nov 13, 2027 (est.)
Colorado River course out of the Pirate's Den — short course (~5 mi), long course (10 mi), and OC-6 relay (two 10-mi segments). Mid-November Saturday traditional; the dates above estimate forward from the 2025 official (Sat Nov 15). Head instructor has multiple wins here. Entry + paperwork + board haul covered · your family arranges travel and lodging.
EstimatedInfinity SUP · Ocean Academy · Single Run (3.25 mi) + Double Run (6.5 mi)
Green Buoy Battle
Baby Beach · Dana Point Harbor, CA
2026
Sat Nov 21, 2026 (est.)
2027
Sat Nov 20, 2027 (est.)
Dana Point harbor course launching from Baby Beach and rounding the iconic Green Buoy just outside the harbor mouth. Open to SUP, prone, OC1, V1, and surfski. Late-November Saturday tradition; the dates above estimate forward from the 2025 official (Sat Nov 22). Entry + paperwork + board haul covered · your family arranges travel and lodging.
Flagship
EstimatedUSA SUP · CA series
Hano Hano Huki Ocean Challenge
Mission Bay · San Diego, CA
2026
—
2027
Sat Jan 16, 2027
Open-ocean classic — the race our instructors season-open every year. 2027 calendar opener; 2026 date not yet posted. Entry + paperwork + board haul covered · your family arranges travel and lodging.
Confirmeddates come from race-org publications · Estimated mirrors prior-year weekend slots · TBA picks are made by the head instructor each season.
Coached by paddlers who race
Your coach is
in your heat.
Hano Hano. Havasu. USA Surfing Nats. Our head instructor lines up at the same start as you — same circuit, same finish chute, same data. You don't get textbook advice. You get line-tactics from someone who held the line two heats ago.
Same start. Same chute.
The instructors don't just train.
They finish.
On the podium
Hardware comes home. The instructors finish in the chute, not in a clipboard.
The circuit
Lake Havasu · open-water laps · the same boards your athlete will line up on.
Powered by Strava
Every interval.
Every split. Logged.
Strava is your training journal and your race record. Connect once at try-out; every session you paddle — solo or with the team — flows into your athlete page with pace, heart rate, and route. Instructors review your file weekly and point at the data.
- →Race-day Strava auto-attach when you cross the finish line.
- →Public team leaderboard on every race.
- →PR tracking across the season — instructors push when the numbers stall.
- →Live spectator map on race day. Family follows from anywhere.
Most recent team session
7.4 mi
4×1000m race-pace · Tempe Town Lake
Avg pace
8:42/mi
Avg HR
158bpm
Best 1k
4:46split
Sample · your file follows the same shape
Who this is for
The serious
paddler.
- ✓You're comfortable on a race shape
You've paddled an unlimited or 14′ board before. You can hold a stroke at 90 spm without dropping the rail.
- ✓You've raced at least once
A 5k local, a club race, a buoy turn — any sanctioned or unsanctioned event counts. We don't need a podium; we need miles.
- ✓You can commit to 3 sessions a week
2 team sessions on the lake + 1 solo prescribed by your coach. We log the whole thing on Strava.
- ✓Age 12–18
This is a youth team. We follow two-deep youth-protection at every team session and race-day travel.
- !Not your first stroke
If you've never been on a SUP, start with the regular season. We'll fast-track you to the race team next year.
Where racing leads
The destination of
the federation pathway.
Your athlete's USA SUP membership puts them on the same federation pathway these world champions race on — USA Surfing → ISA → Olympic governance. The route at the top of the ladder.
World Champion · Distance + Sprint
Fiona Wylde
ICF 2024 World Champion · Technical
Duna Gordillo
Your connection point
USA SUP membership comes with the Race Team enrollment. That's the registration that puts your athlete in the same federation as the world champions above. Read the full pathway on /about.
Where coaching leads
Your athlete is
building a career.
Race Team is age 12–18. The ones who fall in love with the boat ramp don't just age out — they roll into the Instructor Career Path. Paid as a Junior Coach Assistant at 16. ACA-certified at 18. Master Coach by 25 if they want it.
- Peer MentorAge 14–15Volunteer · credit
Volunteer alongside a head instructor on team practices. SafeSport + parent consent + 1 season as athlete. Earns pro-shop credit.
- Junior Coach AssistantAge 16–17$15 / hr
Paid stipend. Assists head instructor on the water. NEVER instructor of record (ACA 18+ minimum is firm). Builds the cert stack: ACA L1 Skills, Junior Lifeguard, CPR/AED.
- Apprentice CoachAge 18+$25 / hr
First adult coach tier. Hourly W-2 + ACA Instructor-track. Path opens to Lead, Senior, then Master Coach with race endorsement.
The full ladder
Six tiers all the way to Master Coach at $75/hr + Race Coach endorsement. Credentials, pay, eligibility, and the AZ youth-labor rules are all in one place.
See the Instructor Career PathBy application
Apply.
Paddle. Race.
Tell us where you are. We'll bring you in for a paddle test on Tempe Town Lake and give you a real answer within 10 days.
Arizona SUP Academy
Train deliberately. Race honestly. Send it.