It’s well trodden ground that most modern pro surfers grow up with a privileged background- often equipped with house in a beach town like San Clemente, Byron Bay, Haleiwa, etc. and parents who will pay for surf trips and the lifestyle.

But why wasn’t this the case a couple decades ago? Kelly grew up poor in Florida, Bruce & Andy grew up without money, Mick Fanning’s parents were working class Irish immigrants, and Sunny Garcia grew up poor from what I gather.

It’s not like there weren’t other rich kids surfing from Florida, the Gold Coast, Oahu, and Kauai during the same era, but somehow nearly every world champ from that era is from a working class background. Is that just pure chance?