As surfing becomes a team sport, Martin Potter and Stephen Bell make a perfect pit crew.

Pottz and Belly, serious competitors still

Just about every surfer on tour has a ring man. Most of the time the ring man is shared amongst a team of surfers. Rip Curl and Fletch, O’neill and Garth, Billabong and Luke Egan. The list goes on. One thing is for sure; slowly but surely, surfing is becoming a team sport. Sure the individual has to go out and do the surfing themselves but, his pit crew provide the support and experience the individual requires to compete at the top of his game.

Meet the A-team – Martin Potter and Stephen Bell. These two are responsible for nurturing the talent of Quiksilver’s surfers. They have been in Kelly’s corner for the better part of a decade and are here in Jbay dedicating their efforts to Jeremy Flores, Travis Logie, Freddy P and Tiago Pires. Gone are they days where the role of team manager purely involved placing a cap on the head of your surfer. The team manager role now days involves much more in the way of mentoring, passing on experience and coaching. You can see they take their job seriously too and if their surfer loses a heat, they take it personally.

As Travis Logie paddles out against good mate, Jordy Smith, both Pottz and Belly sit at the edge of their seats in anticipation. Then there are the mumbled tones and the scratching of heads as a set approaches. When Trav takes off on his first wave, both are bolt upright, living every turn along with him as he makes his way down the line. As the wave finishes, they look at each other, they look at the replays and I’m sure at this point Potts is still yet to take a breath. As the scores drop, the A team re groups and recount the game plan to each other and stop short of rocking back and forth in the bleachers.

Garth Tarlow and Jordy Smith talking strategy.

Meanwhile O’neill team manager, Garth Tarlow watches as Jordy throws a massive tail slide at a critical section and falls. “AAAARRRRGGG,” he screams at what was clearly a breach in their strategy. These guys are clearly competitive and although they’re not wearing a contest singlet, the definitely want to win.

Jordy wins the heat and is met on the beach by Garth with a sigh of relief and an O’neill cap. Meanwhile Belly and Potts console Travis, keep him positive and provide support. They still have Tiago left in the contest and must now focus their efforts on him.

It’s a serious game this surfing.