LITTLE PIRATES STOP 3: BELIEVE IN YOURSELF… AND THEN GO DO IT
Baron remains the grom to beat, Hendrix owns Pollywog, Richard calls his shot, Beckett wins the beach — and Wyatt Wilson steals the story of the day.
CAPTAIN’S LOG — NORTH JETTY, OCTOBER 17, 2026
Little Pirates sailed back into Fort Pierce Inlet State Park — North Jetty for Stop 3, and by the time the last jersey came off, this crew had given us exactly what Little Pirates was created for:
Real heats. Real judging. Real competition. Real progression. And a whole lot of FUN. FREE__LITTLE_PIRATES__
This wasn’t officially a “season.”
But after three Little Pirates events?
It sure started feeling like one.
And if you treated those three stops like a season, there was one grom everybody knew they had to beat…
BARON WAS THE MAN TO BEAT
Baron Gillispie has been the benchmark from the beginning.
He finished 2nd at our opening clinic, came back and won TOP GROM at Stop 2, and arrived at North Jetty looking to do it again.
He didn’t waste much time.
Baron won his opening U14 heat with a 12.67, then dropped an 8.73 in the semifinal — the highest single-wave score of the entire event.
Then came the final.
And Cove Horner nearly took the treasure.
Cove threw down an 8.23 and finished with 12.23.
Baron answered with a 5.60 + 6.83 = 12.43.
Two-tenths of a point.
That was the difference.
Baron Gillispie — 12.43
Cove Horner — 12.23
Richard Friedrich — 7.63
4th Ryder Mahoney — 5.83
If these three clinics had officially been a season, the posted points had Baron sitting on top.
But more importantly, the rest of the crew is getting closer.
That’s exactly what we wanted.
RICHARD CALLED HIS SHOT
Before the contest, Richard Friedrich said he was going to be in the final.
Okay, Pirate.
Prove it. 
Richard advanced out of his opening heat, then WON U14 Semifinal 2 with a 9.17.
And just like he said he would…
HE MADE THE FINAL.
Richard finished the day 3rd in U14.
Sometimes confidence comes after the result.
Sometimes you call the result first.
POLLYWOGS WERE ABSOLUTELY FIRING
If you’ve been following Little Pirates, you already know:
DO NOT SLEEP ON THE POLLYWOGS.
These are supposed to be our youngest developing competitors.
Apparently nobody told them.
Waylon Hoilman dropped a massive 15.50 in his opening heat.
Then Hendrix Flores went 15.77 in the semifinal — the highest heat total of the entire contest.
Hendrix backed it up again in the final:
Hendrix Flores — 14.33
Waylon Hoilman — 10.14
Jadon Warren — 9.83
4th Lenox Warren — 9.46
Think about what these kids are learning already:
Reading the lineup.
Finding waves.
Listening for scores.
Understanding a heat clock.
Dealing with pressure.
Winning. Losing. Trying again.
That’s Little Pirates.
AND THEN THERE’S BECKETT…
Somewhere during these first three Little Pirates events, Beckett Behrens became one of the club favorites.
And Stop 3 might have been his best showing yet.
Beckett won his Pollywog quarterfinal with a 13.07.
Then came one of the tightest heats of the entire day:
Jadon Warren — 11.66
Lenox Warren — 11.17
Beckett Behrens — 11.00
Beckett missed the final by…
0.17 POINTS.
That’s surfing.
And that’s learning.
He didn’t need to make the final for everybody on that beach to see how far he’s come.
Keep going, Beckett. The crew is watching.
BUT THE STORY OF THE DAY BELONGED TO WYATT WILSON
Wyatt started his morning surfing against the bigger kids in U14.
He advanced through his quarterfinal with an 8.83.
Then in the U14 semifinal, he finished with a 5.03, only 0.34 behind Ryder Mahoney for the final transfer spot.
His U14 run was over.
The day wasn’t.
Wyatt went straight back to work in 10U.
He won his semifinal with an 11.53.
Then he paddled into the final against Ryder Mahoney, KREUZ and Jadon Warren.
And Wyatt finished the job.
WYATT WILSON — 10U CHAMPION
Wyatt Wilson — 8.67
Ryder Mahoney — 7.50
KREUZ — 6.80
Jadon Warren — 4.60
But even that wasn’t the best part.
Wyatt was also selected for our:
FREESTYLE SPORTSMANSHIP AWARD
And the words coming from Wyatt after the day pretty much summed up everything we’re trying to teach these kids:
“Believe in yourself and you can do it.”
There it is.
That’s the story.
He missed one final.
Kept surfing.
Won another.
And walked away with the Sportsmanship Award.
BELIEVE IN YOURSELF AND YOU CAN DO IT.
That’s going on the Pirate code.
THEN WE THREW THE RULEBOOK OVERBOARD
Once the individual competition was finished, it was time to let the crew loose.
We went into an Expression Session and then brought back the Little Pirates Tag Team.
Less worrying about individual standings.
More surfing.
More creativity.
More running.
More yelling.
More teammates cheering from the beach.
More kids learning that sometimes surfing isn’t about your score.
It’s about your crew.
And THAT may be one of the most important lessons we can give them.
THREE LITTLE PIRATES EVENTS LATER…
This started as an idea:
Give local kids a place to learn how surf contests actually work before they’re expected to know everything.
But look at what’s happening now.
Kids are talking about scores.
They’re learning judging.
They’re watching each other’s heats.
They’re making finals.
They’re setting goals.
They’re becoming friends.
They’re moving from parent-assist toward independent competition.
They’re learning how to win.
They’re learning how to lose.
And they’re coming back wanting another shot.
THAT is progression.
The trophies are awesome.
The prizes are fun.
But the real treasure is watching a kid who was nervous at Stop 1 paddle out at Stop 3 like they belong there.
Because now they do.
STOP 3 FINAL RESULTS
| Division |  1st |
2nd |
3rd |
4th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| U14 | Baron Gillispie | Cove Horner | Richard Friedrich | Ryder Mahoney |
| U10 | Wyatt Wilson | Ryder Mahoney | KREUZ | Jadon Warren |
| Pollywog | Hendrix Flores | Waylon Hoilman | Jadon Warren | Lenox Warren |
Highest heat total: Hendrix Flores — 15.77
Highest single wave: Baron Gillispie — 8.73
Freestyle Sportsmanship Award: Wyatt Wilson
THE LITTLE PIRATES ARE JUST GETTING STARTED
Thank you to every parent, judge, announcer, volunteer, local surfer, sponsor, supporter, and family who continues showing up for these kids.
Little Pirates isn’t about creating professional surfers overnight.
It’s about creating opportunity.
A place to learn.
A place to belong.
A place to compete.
A place to fall down, paddle back out, and try again.
And after three stops, one thing is becoming pretty obvious:
WE NEED A REAL LITTLE PIRATES SEASON.
Five stops.
Standings.
Championship races.
Sportsmanship.
Progression.
End-of-season awards.
And a whole lot more time in the water.
2027… you might want to get ready.
Until then:
SURF FAST.
HAVE FUN.
SUPPORT YOUR CREW.
BELIEVE IN YOURSELF.
THE FUTURE IS LOCAL.
