Through high and low tides, grinding waves with long barrels or small sets that break along the shore, the only thing predictable about the ocean is its power of change.
That power has impacted the lives of many in Malibu, including the founders of the Malibu Under Dogs, Timothy Hazelip and Jean Pierre Pereat.
The nonprofit sponsors and participates in local surfing events including individual surf lessons that enable children from all walks of life to engage in ocean therapy.
“Mitch Taylor at Becker Surf came up with the name Malibu Under Dogs for a surf club and really gave us the name to use as a surf club,” Hazelip said. “That’s how I started filming all the local boys in the water … There’s a lot of good things going on there and no one was really writing about it, talking about it, filming it … so I thought, ‘I will.’”
Hazelip’s childhood friend Norm Baugher also helped spearhead efforts to turn a small production company into something larger than life. Hazelip and Pereat hit the ground running to share the power of surf to children with a wide range of needs.
Both surfers have grown up on a board and had already spent hours working together with various surf therapy groups, including A Walk On Water and TheraSurf.
As word of Hazelip and Pereat’s nonprofit grew, so did the support from the community. More than 20 people are now at the core of the Malibu Under Dogs, comprised of local surfers, photographers and videographers all ready to assist in and out of the water with surf therapy.
“Special needs is a pretty wide, vague description of who we help,” Hazelip said. “I think special needs is human needs, common needs. We all have special needs. We focus on autism because we see the difference it makes over a period of time because we film it, but I’ll never turn anybody down for surf therapy.”
Along with continuing work with regular clients in the area, the Malibu Under Dogs next goal is a big one.
“Our vision is to take what we do and to do this on a global scale,” Pereat said.
It’s difficult for Hazelip to put into words how grateful he is for the community’s acceptance and support for the Malibu Under Dogs.
“It’s surreal, shocking,” Hazelip said of Malibu Under Dogs recognition through a Dolphin Award. “We weren’t doing this for notoriety or for any awards, but to get recognized by my own city is overwhelming … This made a difference in my life and if I can pass that on to someone else in a positive way … that’s what I want to do every single day, reach a new person every day.”
Hazelip and Pereat have heard congratulations for the award from near and far, including phone calls, emails and text messages from friends and family in town and around the surfing community.
“We couldn’t do this without Allen Sarlo and Andy Lyon,” Hazelip said. “They run the show up there, they both surf with special needs kids. We get so much cooperation and support from the lineup itself. It’s its own city … and that means as much as it does hearing it from the city, hearing it from the lineup … it’s fantastic to get the support of my community.”