2023 Stories of Stoke: Meet Bryan, 2023 Hanai Co-Lead!
Hello, my name is Bryan Sorrentino. I spent most of my life in Colorado and moved to San Diego in 2015. I enjoy just about any outdoor activity, especially mountain biking, hiking, camping, watersports and golfing. I am married with two teenage kids and work for Salesforce.
I have been involved with Urban Surf since 2019. I first learned about them when Roxanne and the US4K team attended my company’s volunteer event and I got to learn the great cause they serve. They said I should volunteer with them sometime, so I did….and have loved it ever since.
I started as a Hanai mentor and am now Co-Lead of that same group. This will be my second year as co-lead. I am inspired by the great work the US4K team does and the hard work my co-volunteers put in. But, even more so, I am inspired by the kids we mentor. I mentor a group of teenage boys. I have teenage children myself and see the challenges they face. The kids I mentor have even more challenges in front of them but they face them head on and are always up for learning new things. Seeing them surfing, kayaking or just experiencing outdoor adventure activities for the first time is incredible. All of the above is what keeps me coming back year after year and has pushed me to get more involved as a leader.
Some of the positive changes I have seen are boys that barely spoke to the volunteers and were worried about even going in the water to confident young men making new friends, openly engaging with the mentors and not only going in the ocean, but successfully surfing on their own.
One of my favorite memories was similar to the above. We had a 15 year old boy that was quite clear he did not want to surf and was even nervous just to be in the ocean. After some discussion and reassurances, we got him to agree to try it once and told him if he hated it, he could be done. That day ended with us having to convince him to come out of the water as the day was over, him ecstatically sharing how awesome the experience was, and asking if he can get his own board so he can surf as much as possible. I am certain that transformation would not have happened without Urban Surf in his life.
