Veteran professional bodyboarder Brian Stoehr is back home, building the future of surfing in Ocean City
Written by Alison Pappas | Photography by Pamela Aquilani
Brian Stoehr, a decades-long professional wave rider and two-time U.S. National Pro Tour Bodyboard champion, is helping to build the next generation of local surfers by serving as head instructor at the K-Coast Wave Riding School.
Stoehr was first taught to surf by his father and uncle at the tender age of 6. His first experience catching a wave felt like kismet, and it sparked a lifetime passion for wave riding. Early on, Stoehr began gravitating to bodyboarding.
“I got into bodyboarding because Ocean City is a very conducive place for bodyboarders. We have more of a shore-break kind of wave. These waves have a steeper top-to-bottom shape, which is traditionally a better wave for bodyboarders, and the wave breaks closer to the beach,” shared Stoehr.
“Plus, you can’t surf from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. because of local beach restrictions. If I was surfing, I had to get out of the water right at 10, but if I was bodyboarding, I could stay in the water all day,” he continued.
At age 16, Stoehr began bodyboarding professionally and continued for over two decades. During this time, he won numerous different professional and amateur events, including two U.S. National Pro Tour Bodyboard titles and an East Coast Pro Tour title.
“A cool thing about surfing and bodyboarding being individual sports is that you can do what you want, whenever you want. I’m very competitive, and I loved that I haven’t had anyone to hold me back through the years,” shared Stoehr.
Throughout his career, Stoehr has continued to receive several endorsements from different brands that were attracted to not only his talent but also his wholesome, clean-cut image.
“I wasn’t into the partying, and a lot of companies really were drawn to that. I found that it made my career last a lot longer,” he said. “Looking back, the sport has given me everything. Really, everything I have in life comes from this sport. That includes being able to see the world for many years,” he continued.
Stoehr credits the best waves he ever rode to being in Indonesia; however, he also admires Eastern Shore’s surf scene.
“As I got to travel more, it made me appreciate the local area. We get great waves here a couple of times a year. If I could snap my fingers and be anywhere, I’d rather be here on a really good surf day,” he shared.
After more than 20 years of professional bodyboarding and traveling, Stoehr decided to return home to Ocean City. He is still a professional wave rider, and although he still bodyboards some, he has mostly transitioned back into surfing. Catch Surf, a company that makes beater boards and soft surfboards known in the surf community as “logs,” currently sponsors Stoehr.
“As I got to travel more, it made me appreciate the local area. We get great waves here a couple of times a year. If I could snap my fingers and be anywhere, I’d rather be here on a really good surf day.”
“These boards are so fun to ride. I kind of lucked out in the later part of my career, getting to ride the boards that I love to ride. With the wave-riding school, it goes hand-in-hand, because they are incredible boards for people to start off on and get into the support,” he shared.
Through sharing his love of surfing as the head instructor at K-Coast Surf Shop’s Wave Riding School, Stoehr has found what he considers to be his true calling. The school is available seven days a week, all year long, for people of all ages. Additionally, all skill levels are welcome, whether that means you are looking to really master the sport or simply just looking to check off a box on your bucket list.
Photo by Bernie Walls
Photo by Jay Fleming
“Everything we do is in a one-on-one setting. That means if I have 10 people going out on the water, I also have 10 instructors. It’s just a sport that works better one on one, and the reason for that is the ocean element. Having an instructor assigned to each person makes a big difference when navigating the ocean,” said Stoehr.
Assisting Stoehr is a team of talented local instructors. Including Stoehr’s wins, the team is estimated to have collectively won over 40 state surfing titles. Putting their enormous individual talent aside, the team thrives at making the surf-school classes fun, easy and long-lasting for enrollees.
“I’m confident that for most surfers, we can shed years of trial and error for them in just one session. We can speed up the process of teaching someone to surf,” shared Stoehr. “I’ve spent a lot of time sourcing the equipment to teach people in the way I was taught, with the right equipment. We’re using the best-quality and the best-sized equipment.”
The combination of personalized teaching techniques and ideal equipment has proven to be effective. In fact, many of the area’s most accomplished surfers learned to surf through the K-Coast Wave Riding School. For Stoehr, the opportunity to pass along his love of the sport to the next generation is overwhelmingly gratifying. CS