The surf club team spent nearly its entire summer at the beach, surfing constantly. But now that school has started, the students are back in Raleigh, hours from the coast — but that hasn’t stopped the team from surfing.

Daniel Almirall, the president of the surf club and a junior in textile engineering, said the group does whatever it can to help surfers at N.C. State.

“We try to meet other surfers around NCSU and get down to the beach because it’s tough being landlocked,” Almirall said. “You really want to get out and surf, especially if you grew up on the coast. You just want to get back out in the water and go surfing.”

The club members try to make it down to the coast as much as possible. They pile into a few cars on a given Friday afternoon and split the gas to drive down to the Outer Banks. They stay at beach houses of family members and friends, and surf all weekend.

This year is the club’s first as a University club sport, but the group actually started last year.

“Last year we laid the groundwork and figured out who the core members were going to be,” Almirall said. “We went on one trip down to Wilmington with six or seven people. That established who was interested and who really wanted to be a part of this.”

Almirall said last year was tough as the club was just getting started. Almost 20 people showed up to the first meeting this year, but last year’s meetings often consisted of just a handful of people.

“That’s one of the hardest things about starting a club,” Almirall said. “It’s tough to find people who want to commit their time. You just have to overcome that surfer go-with-the-flow mentality and actually make the effort to get out there and get in the water.”

Eliza Jones, a freshman in First Year College, said the surf club is great because she can meet other surfers in Raleigh.

“I’m from Wilmington and I love the beach,” Jones said. “It’s different being up here in Raleigh and it’s nice to meet people that are like me. I can connect with them because we both share the same passion.”

The surf club is not just about surfing, members have also done some community service this year. The team participated in a beach sweep in Wilmington where they cleaned trash off the beach. Kinley Taylor, a junior in industrial engineering, said the club is looking to expand its activities beyond weekend beach trips.

“This year, we’re trying to get involved in some more beach sweeps,” Taylor said. “We also want to try to help out with some surf competitions. We’re also hoping that for spring break we can make it down to Costa Rica or Puerto Rico and have a good time enjoying a sport we all love.”

Still, according to Taylor, the surf club is just about getting out in the water.

“I’m excited to just hit some waves and have fun,” Taylor said.