Danielle Needle was riding a wave of empowerment.
The 50-year-old woman from western Maryland had just risen to her feet for the first time and was surfing a gentle wave all the way to the beach. After wiping out in the foamy surf, she flashed a wide grin and a thumbs up.
It was a small wave but a big moment for Needle, a relative novice in a surfing class taught by Michelle Sommers, a Fenwick Island surfer who has been teaching women to surf for the past 18 years.
“I have surfed a couple of times before, but it's kind of interesting,” Needle explained. “My first surf lesson was not a great experience. I was able to stand up, but I had a dude instructor who constantly asked me if I was tired while my boyfriend at the time was absolutely on the verge of drowning and I was training for triathlons. I didn’t really like that.”
Surfing has enjoyed a surge in recent years, and the beach destinations along the Delmarva Coast are no exception. Fueling that growth are increasing numbers of women who are flocking to this once male-dominated, multi-billion-dollar sport. By some estimates, women now make up 35 to 40 percent of the global surfing population, often forming their own surfing communities.
On this Sunday morning on Assateague Island, Needle was part of a group of women gathered with Michelle Sommers, who runs a surfing school out of Fenwick Island, Delaware, aimed mostly at women. Since 2009, “Sommers Surf” has turned hundreds of women like Danielle Needle into surfers.
She's also the executive director of the Eastern Surfing Association. Ask her what brings women to this classic dude sport, and she talks about things like empowerment and courage.
“I don't know,” she said, “maybe to do something that scares them and to overcome some kind of fear to prove that they can do something that's hard to do.” Sommers’ journey was similar to that of many of her students.
“I always loved surfing in my teens and 20s,” she said. “I never surfed. I always dated surfers. I thought surfing was super cool, just being in the ocean and being in nature and all that kind of stuff.”
By the time she decided to start strapping herself to her own surfboard, Sommers was in her late 20s. She said the typical instructor then was a 19-year-old guy who might take her out right away into the roughest waves. It just didn't feel comfortable. So that's when she decided to start her own school and forge a path for women into surfing.
It turned into a community. Despite the threat of rain on this particular morning, she was surrounded by students and former students at Assateague State Park, where she has an agreement to teach surfing. They were ready to take on the waves, sticking together for mutual support.
The chatter was supportive:
“Are you guys going out?”
“Yeah.”
“That's going to make it easier for you to walk your board….”
“No, I'm ready. All worked out. I am ready to give it up.”
(Laughter).
One of the female surfers was Emily Gelman, a former student from nearby Bishopville.
“Michelle in one lesson can get you up and going,” Gelman said. “I've gone out and thought there's no way she's going to get somebody up on the board and then she can get anybody up in any conditions.”
Gelman is a mother of three who took up surfing in her 40s. “I think I did it because I wanted something for myself,” she said. “I wanted a hobby. My husband likes to golf and I wanted something that was in the water and outside….
“There's definitely a majority of male surfers, but Michelle has built this community. So every time I go out, I always have a female that I can go with. And I would say they've turned into some of my dearest friends. And so we hang out in the water, we hang out outside of the water, and it's just been a very helpful, supportive community.”
Then there was Kathy Favory, age 62. “I'm older and I was like, I've always wanted to surf, but I was a little intimidated,” she said. “I must have looked it up and I saw that she taught women and that made me feel more comfortable about coming out.”
She’s now part of a thriving community of women signaling a transformation of surfing from a niche male sport to a more inclusive lifestyle activity.
