Celebrating 25 Years Of Shane Dorian’s Keiki Classic – Surfline.com Surf News

Posted On: February 5, 2020

In 1995, Forrest Gump cleaned up at the Oscars, “Gangsta’s Paradise” by Coolio was the number one song and Shane Dorian finished third at the Pipe Masters (he lost in the first semifinal to Occy).

When the ASP season was over that year, Shane hosted his first-ever Keiki Classic at Banyans on the Big Island of Hawaii. Just last weekend, Shane and the community celebrated the 25th running of the contest.

Keali’i Lambeth with a stylish backhand attack. As predicted by Surfline’s Jon Warren, the surf was super fun all morning for the smaller and younger contestants. All photos: Kirk Lee Aeder and @bigislandsurf1

As Dave Wassel, who did play-by-play at the event this year with Joe Turpel, and who has never exaggerated once in his life said, “This is 25 years of the best thing that’s ever happened to surfing.”

Dedicated solely to good times and bringing the community together, Shane doesn’t charge an entry fee to get into the comp. Instead he asks that kids donate canned food, and when the day’s over all the food raised goes to the Big Island Giving Tree.

Erin Brooks made the trip over from Oahu’s North Shore for her first Keiki Classic. Her confident approach was more than enough to take the top spot in the girls 13 and under division.

And donations are made by others, too. In fact, Shane often gets his A-list friends to show up, and this year Kelly Slater once again flew to the Big Island to support the event — a decision made easier with a good forecast by Jon Warren at Surfline.

Leading a mid-day expression session, not only did Kelly give the groms a chance to share the lineup with The Goat, he had a little something extra up his sleeve when the awards rolled around.

As winners Erin Brooks, Rumor Star Butts, Jackson Dorian and Dylan Schmarr stood atop their respective podiums, Uncle Kelly stepped in…and announced the winners were all getting a golden ticket to the Surf Ranch. And the best news? They could each bring a friend.

The boys 13 and under division had by far the most entries, and the competition was pretty fierce. Jackson Dorian came out on top in a stirring final.

And when a young grom turned in a board he’d won in a raffle because it was too small and he wanted another kid to have a chance to win it, Kelly invited him to the Ranch, too.