Board Gamer

Sophomore Bodhi Sahakian Is Rising Star for Pali High Surf Squad   

By STEVE GALLUZZO | Sports Editor

There is no time Bodhi Sahakian feels more at peace than on his surfboard waiting to catch that perfect wave. Once up, the ease with which he glides through the water, tiptoeing back and forth with the dexterity of a high-wire artist is  something to behold.

No one is more impressed with the Palisades High sophomore than Dolphins surf team coach James Buckman.

“Bodhi is as good as anyone we’ve had and that says a lot because this is the largest and most talented group in my six years running the program,” Buckman says. “I can’t coach them from the beach. I’d have to be in the water with them, but he has a great eye for reading the break and he has great balance on the board.”

Standing 6-foot-4, the 15-year-old is a man among boys on the white foam, having taken first place in the individual longboard standings at each of the first four Scholastic Surf Series competitions this season at Emma Wood, Manhattan Beach, C Street in Ventura and last Sunday in Carpinteria.    

“I’ve been doing it since I was about 10 and I do WSA events too,” says Sahakian, who learned from his dad John.  “I like Topanga and Will Rogers, I surf those beaches a lot. I surf maybe three times a week. We’ll go to Ventura or make a day trip to San Diego and over the summer I go to Waikiki in Honolulu.” 

Sahakian, who sports an Anderson Farberow 99 model (nine feet, nine inches), is the No. 1-ranked longboarder in his age group from Los Angeles to Santa Barbara County and likes the high school format in which points are scored for successful rides in time increments of 15 minutes.    

“After you do it awhile you understand what the judges are looking for,” he says. “The most important thing is once you get a good ride is to paddle right back out because depending on the conditions you get minimal opportunities.”

Also a 400 and 800-meter runner on Pali High’s track team, Sahakian lives in Santa Monica but spends much of his time hanging out in the Palisades. He wants to major in sports psychology and get sponsored to surf professionally.

He is looking forward to keeping his winning streak intact in the last Scholastic Surf Series event at Zuma in February.

“Bodhi is just an awesome guy to have on our team,” Pali High surf captain Trey Buck says. “He’s super talented and he sticks around to the end no matter what.”