The Eastern Surfing Association (ESA) is thrilled to announce its 2025 recipients of the Tom Gibbons Sportsmanship & Volunteerism awards. Since 2022, Gibbons has offered these awards to members of the ESA who deserve to be recognized for their contribution to the surfing world.
Previous recipients were named at Easterns each year, however, due to the schedule and weather changes, the ESA opted to recognize the recipients before their largest event of the year. District directors and board members were asked to nominate ESA members who they felt were deserving, and all nominees were voted on by ESA board members.
ESA All-Star Madison Bennett receives the ESA 2025 Tom Gibbons Sportsmanship Award Photo: MEZ/ESM
ESA All-Star Madison Bennett from Central Florida is the 2025 Tom Gibbons Sportsmanship Award. ESA CFL district director Mario DeLuca nominated Madison as she exemplifies all the characteristics of a “good sport.”
“As an ESA All-Star, I think Madison has only missed one contest in the years she has been with us,” said DeLuca. “She helps setup and breakdown at each contest, assists with CFL’s awards BBQ, helps judge local contests and the with computers. Madison is always easy-going and ready to lend a hand. She is respected by everyone and a great role model for all ages.”
According to her mom, Madison was beyond excited to hear the news. “We are all grateful for this recognition and appreciate the kind words in the nomination letter,” said Bennett. “We are thankful of the support and encouragement she has received from ESA throughout the years!”
The 2025 Tom Gibbons Volunteerism Award was given to two ESA members who help make their local district events possible with their hard work and enthusiasm. According to Gibbons, time is a precious commodity and it’s important to thank the volunteers who take time from their lives to help.
ESA is an organization made up of volunteers as all district directors and board members donate their time. There are other volunteers who help the district directors but their hard work is under the radar of most. These are the ones that were nominated and voted on by the ESA board members.
ESA SNJ’s Scotty Cameron takes his beach marshall job seriously by planning lots of fun games for the groms – “Respect the whistle!”
Scott Cameron from ESA Southern New Jersey has been volunteering as the SNJ District Beach Marshall for at least the past five years and sports a homemade T-shirt (“Respect the Whistle”), which gives just a peek into the fun this guy generates at every event.
“Scotty makes every contest super-fun for all the kids and adults too,” said previous SNJ district director Lisa Roselli. “In addition to his friendly and all-inclusive vibe at the Beach Marshall table, he spins cool surf tunes all day and always has weird and wild games on deck for competitors and non-competitors alike. Despite the surf conditions, Scotty manages to turn every good contest day into a great one! He’s such a positive guy!”
Scott, who serves as a U.S. Coast Guard firefighter in Cape May, and his wife Britt, have also adopted five other children, most of whom surf a bit too, though not competitively. We also want to thank Scott for his service.
ESA Delmarva is lucky to have Adam Winter offering his time to handle all the logistics for their local events. Not only is the first one on the beach at every contest setting up, but he’s also there all day helping with anything that he needs to help with.
“He is the first one on the beach for set-up and the last one to leave after the trailer is packed,” said DMV codirector Steve Grunewald. “Adam will judge, runs errands, coach the groms before their heats, talk with new competitors and handle anything that we need. It takes a village to run a contest, and we couldn’t do it without him.”
“I am honored to be a part of the ESA and truly grateful for this award,” said Winter. “It is my pleasure to help our youth who aspire to surf either competitively or for pleasure. I feel I should share this award as it’s a team that creates and executes our competitions.”
ESA DMV’s Adam Winter is the guy who does all things for his district. Photo: MEZ/ESM
The ESA wants to thank Tom Gibbons for his generous donation of awards and cash for these recipients. Every recipient received an award that was handmade by Gibbons, a medal and a check for $250.
“The smile on the kids’ faces throughout the day is enough reward,” adds Winter.
“Long live the ESA – respect the whistle!” yells Cameron.