At a Queens Surf School, Kids’ Confidence Comes in Waves

3 weeks ago 16

Ask Claudia Acuña about Louis Harris and the East Coast chapter of the Black Surfing Association, and she’ll tell you they “saved my kid’s life.”

For the last five years, Ms. Acuña and her son, Daniel Kelley, 14, have been part of a community that Mr. Harris built in Rockaway Beach, Queens.

Mr. Harris, 53, founded the chapter in 2016. The nonprofit, which is funded through donations and corporate sponsorships, offers free surfing lessons on summer weekend mornings and equipment to any child who shows up.

Parents whose children Mr. Harris has taught say his efforts have transformed their children’s lives.

Among them is Daniel. His mother, Ms. Acuña, said her son was depressed in the summer of 2020, dealing with the pandemic and bullying, when Mr. Harris’s surf school provided a lifeline.

The program “completely changed everything,” she said, adding that Daniel blossomed and his confidence soared. “As a mother,” she said, “it’s the most beautiful gift that any mother can have.”

Many children of color are not accustomed to seeing “surfers that look like them, that look like Mr. Lou,” Ms. Acuña said, referring to Mr. Harris, who is Black.

Mr. Harris, she added, had set an example as positive male role model, noting that he had taught her son about masculinity “with the tenderness and the softness of the water.”

Mr. Harris was inspired to start the surf school chapter after hearing the story of a Black teen who set a mattress on fire in his Coney Island apartment building. The teenager later said he started the fire, which killed a police officer, because he was bored. Mr. Harris took it upon himself to give local children something to do.

Children and teenagers make their way to the beach by 8 a.m., some of them traveling an hour or more by subway. But Mr. Harris said he’s never seen them yawning or looking tired. “Every time the parents are like, ‘Hey, Lou, man, my kids woke me up for this’,” he said.

Everything is free at Mr. Harris’s surf school, including the surf boards and the wet suits. “It’s not the kind of thing where it’s like, oh my God, this is going to be a hundred dollars every time I bring my kid,” Mr. Harris said. “It gives parents that cushion.”

Suzanne Cope said the surf school has taught her son, Rocco, 12, “to fail over and over again” while still wanting “to go back and do the same thing to try and get better.” There are few opportunities for children “to really learn that kind of grit,” she said.

Noting that people of color are disproportionately at risk of drowning, Mr. Harris said he also teaches water safety, including how to spot and escape rip currents.

When summer ends, Mr. Harris’s work doesn’t stop. The surf school organizes outings, cooking workshops and volunteer opportunities year-round. With the help of corporate sponsorships, Mr. Harris provides children with shoes, clothes and food.

Jamie Balsamo has two daughters — Daniela, 9, and Sophia, 11 — in the program. She said the opportunities that Mr. Harris offers out of the water, including an annual Thanksgiving meal for the homeless, build character and teach children to “become bigger and a better person in life.”