A Jackson Elementary School second-grader was honored May 26 by the Plant City Commission, which presented the youngster with a proclamation heralding his surfing prowess.
Joey Putnall, nicknamed "The Ripper" by a California surfboard manufacturer for his fearless ways of riding big waves, is 7 years old.
In October the Amateur Athletic Union Surfing Championships ranked him third in the nation for his age group. The Central Florida Surf Forecast and Reports named him Surfer of the Month in December and Sports Illustrated magazine published a story on him in an issue last month.
He was also featured in a Dec. 2 Tampa Tribune story.
The young athlete has "natural coordination, an undaunted attitude and a grandfather who loves to surf," the proclamation states. Joey is an excellent student who finishes his schoolwork quickly so he and his grandfather, Bob Clark, can surf, it states.
While he enjoys surfing Florida's Sebastian Inlet and Pinellas County's Sunset Beach in the winter, he has also surfed in California and Hawaii, mastering waves 8 to 10 feet in height, the proclamation states.
"Because he lives in landlocked Plant City, he keeps in surf shape by balancing on an Indo Board, skateboarding and balancing on his surfboard in his grandparents' pool," the proclamation says.
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