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    Mother’s Day: Surf mom inspired by daughter to create a community supporting surfer girls
    • May 11, 2025

    Jamie Clinard remembers what it was like growing up a surfer girl in San Clemente — wanting to ride waves, but so intimidated as the only girl among the boys that she found herself stuck on dry land, her fears keeping her from paddling out.

    She quit surfing for decades.

    But when her daughter, Maddie, got a surfboard for her fifth birthday and fell in love with the waves, Clinard found herself back in the lineup with a renewed passion. Her long-lost love for surfing was back, and was now something mother and daughter could share.

    What she has found out in the water with her daugther, now 11, was what she was missing in her own childhood experience — the bonding while sitting on boards waiting for waves, cheering each other on while taking “party waves” next to each other and other surfer girls, all hooting for each other as they celebrate the thrill of the ride.

    “It’s the absolute best thing in the world,” said Clinard, 42, of surfing alongside her daughter. “Something I love about surfing, there’s not a lot of sports kids can play that parents can do with them. It’s fun to look over and see your daughter and her friends, we like to take party waves. We all go out together, it’s really special.”

    Surfing alongside her daughter is such a special feeling, it’s what she has planned for Mother’s Day — the simple gift of riding waves together, with plans to hit Doheny State Beach in Dana Point for the afternoon.

    “I’m hoping we’ll get awesome waves and hoping we’ll be out there all day,” Clinard said. “I just want to be out there with my girl, as long as I can. And I want a party wave, of course.”

    Her rekindled love for surfing has brought a wave of change to her life. Clinard left her practice as a therapist to create a surf brand and now a retail shop, All Swell Surf, to give young surfer girls what she didn’t have growing up — a place they can find a community, be inspired by other female surf icons and be role models for the next generation.

    “I really wanted something different for her — I wanted to create a space that really encourages people to push past their fears,” Clinard said.

    All Swell Surf opened in September and has been making waves in the surf world, a unique take on a surf shop that is all about the sisterhood of surfers, a space with girl-power messaging splashed throughout.

    • Camryn Mills, 13, hugs her mom, Shannon Mills, as she...

      Camryn Mills, 13, hugs her mom, Shannon Mills, as she talks about her daughter during the All Swell Wave Makers ceremony in San Clemente, CA, on Tuesday, April 1, 2025. The women-owned surf brand hosted its first-ever All Swell Wave Makers ceremony on April 1 at their retail shop. The goal is to celebrate young local girls who have been selected for their new sponsorship program based on how they show up with kindness, courage, and community spirit. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)

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    Camryn Mills, 13, hugs her mom, Shannon Mills, as she talks about her daughter during the All Swell Wave Makers ceremony in San Clemente, CA, on Tuesday, April 1, 2025. The women-owned surf brand hosted its first-ever All Swell Wave Makers ceremony on April 1 at their retail shop. The goal is to celebrate young local girls who have been selected for their new sponsorship program based on how they show up with kindness, courage, and community spirit. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)

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    All Swell Surf has become a gathering place where speakers encourage the next generation, where girls can gather to watch female-inspired surf films or just be part of a tribe. Champion surfer Joyce Hoffman, a ‘60s-era pioneer who helped pave the way for female surfers, was one of the speakers who jumped on board to encourage young surfer girls during a recent event at the store. 

    “She’s so cool. She’s still so spicy. You just love her,” Clinard said of Hoffman. “She acts like it’s no big deal. … It makes you realize we build things up in our head and it doesn’t have to be that intense. It doesn’t have to be that scary — just do it.”

    They had a mom-and-daughter movie night showing “Girls Can’t Surf,” with San Clemente twin sisters Jolene and Jorja Smith — who very much can surf — featured in the film, also speaking to a crowd at the shop.  

    On a recent day, Clinard hosted the shop’s first “Wave Maker” sponsorships, handed out to three young surfers – Willow Brennan, 9, Brooklyn Betsy Bannan, 8, and Camryn Kalea Mills, 13 – who were picked not because of their surf skills, but because of how they support and encourage others.

    Surf sponsorships typically focus on competitions, which pit girls against one another, Clinard said.

    “It gives us a culture of competition. At All Swell, we really wanted to switch things up and do things differently,” she said. “This is a ripple in the water of possibilities. It’s a big step forward in changing the game for surfing and for our girls.”

    Every three months, another three girls will be selected, the previous “Wave Makers” becoming mentors to the next group, a way to build up the community of surfer girls.

    “We believe true surf heroes are not just the ones out there landing all the tricks, but the ones out there building up the girls, who are out there making friends in the lineup and choosing kindness every time,” Clinard said.

    Each girl’s mother said a few words about their daughter during the ceremony. Shannon Bannan talked about Brooklyn’s heart of gold and how she started pushing her into waves at just 6 months old.

    “Not only does she just try so hard in everything she does, she has fun doing it. She encourages friends to come along with her and she’s a great teacher,” said Bannan, from San Juan Capistrano. “She makes friends wherever she goes.”

    Willow Brennan, of Dana Point, said her favorite part of surfing is “party waving with all my friends.”

    Mom Jocelyn Brennan said her daughter is the first person to volunteer to watch the smaller kids so the moms can get out in the water.

    San Clemente surfer Camryn Kalea Mills’ mom, Shannon, recalled how when her daughter was about 3, she would stretch her arms out to the ocean and scream “I’m in love!”

    “She’s always looking for the one who is not included,” her mom added. “She’s looking for the girl who needs a friend.”

    It wasn’t just the moms in the crowd talking about how proud they were of their surfer girls.R.C. Mills, Camryn’s dad, choked back tears after the ceremony. The 56-year-old talked about how growing up, there were hardly any girls in the water. Back then, there wasn’t much acceptance of girls in the water, the way there is now.

    “Now, girls are everywhere enjoying the surf,” he said. “As they should be.”

    The overall message Clinard wants girls to receive when they walk into the shop: You don’t have to be an amazing surfer to be called a surfer. You just have to enjoy it, and there’s a sisterhood that will cheer you on.

    “Even if you are barely standing up, that counts and you should be allowed to be there, too,” Clinard said. “This shop was made as a space for all women and girls who enjoy the ocean, who rip at surfing in a really good way or people who are just learning and looking for a place to be encouraged and seen.”

    Girl-power vibes can be found throughout the shop. A hat signed by world champion surfer Caroline Marks, who lives in the coastal town, is on display.  A surfboard signed by Bethany Hamilton is on display.

    There’s jewelry made by 10-year-old surfer girls, candles that read “surf like a girl,” as well as bright, eye-catching custom clothing made specifically for the shop. A T-shirt reads “Pipeline is for the girls,” a play on a declaration made by Oceanside surfer Caitlin Simmers after she won a big event at the Hawaiian surf break.

    A few days ago, Clinard held an event inviting daughters to make custom seashell-decorated frames to give to their moms for Mother’s Day.

    “My dream, my goal, is to build a sisterhood of women and girls who love to surf. And to have our shop be the place where people come to meet others,” Clinard said. “It’s never been about the clothing, it’s always been about the community.”

    While Clinard’s inspiration to create the shop was her daughter, Maddie Clinard said her mom is now creating something “really cool” that inspires others.

    “To be honest, I never thought of a girls’ surf shop. Now that it’s here, it’s my favorite thing,” said Maddie, who often joins her mom at the shop and wears a shark mascot costume to make customers smile. “I think I’m really proud of my mom for making these girls so happy. I think that inspires them to keep doing it.”

    ​ Orange County Register 

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