The Reale Deal Show

New Jersey's Jason Bitzer has raging motor inside him.  He's never been one to be content...with anything. Sheer grit and will and a desire to grab life by the horns gave him a career as a pro bodyboarder, event organizer, North Shore lifeguard, lifesaving trainer, author, investor, jiu jitsu enthusiast..and the list goes on.  As a family man, life has dealt he and his wife some heartbreaking blows, but in true Jason Bitzer fashion, Jason attacks every problem with a positive outlook that serves he, his wife Beta and kids Numa and James well.

Bodyboard design has come a long way since it's invention in 1971.  Jay and Vicki Reale and Tanner McDaniel discuss what's been and what will be.

Australia's Paul "Barney" Barnard has long been a fixture in the bodyboarding scene Down Under.   The former golden boy from Queensland quickly rose to the top of the heap of young Aussies in the 80s and remained a media darling well into the 90s, paving the way for the next generation of Australian bodyboarders.   

He eventually settled into an industry job but still keeps that fire for getting barrelled that got him started more than 4 decades ago.  

Instagram:  @barney051268

Hawaii's Neal Miyake has been at this sport for a half century, and through his upbringing on Kaua'i to his working years on O'ahu, he's seen it all.  Neal has rubbed elbows with the sport's elite and continues to push bodyboarding forward through his stunning photography and support of bodyboarding youth statewide.  

His tenure working as a navy contractor has taken him all over the globe, and he's done it with his bodyboard in tow.  We find out more about Neal's incredible passion for the sport and the world travels that he's enjoyed in his many years in...

Ex-pro bodyboarders and eBodyboarding.com and TribeBoards owners Jay and Vicki Reale answer all your questions.  

Travel with us:

https://www.ebodyboarding.com/pages/bodyboarding-travel

Bodyboard Holidays:

https://bodyboard-holidays.com/

How we started our business:

@15 minutes into this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8eYWIe9jUM&list=PLsNzOBhEhm84UbwRfjjwEsWJz7PqwNCpO&index=102

Orange County ripper Scotty Plowden has been quietly making a name for himself in the SoCal bodyboarding scene with blistering performances at The Wedge and honing his skills through his world travels.  

He's committed to expanding his bodyboarding horizons while keeping a level head about his future .  We talk Wedge wipeouts, injuries, his love affair with Puerto Rico, and why Trader Joe's is lucky to have him.  

Instagram:  @the_life_of_scotty_p

One of 2025's top young California bodyboarders, Drake Kinghorn has already put his stamp on the bodyboarding world with appearances on the IBC World Tour, on O'ahu's North Shore, WacoSurf, and at the Wedge and he's just 15 years old.  Solid family support and a strong desire to see the world through bodyboarding, he's just getting started!  

Jay catches up with PLC on his brief visit to Southern California in April 2025 to hit him with a few questions covering everything from his bodyboarding goals to his recent sponsorship with Morey Bodyboards and Churchill Fins.  

Pierre's Portugal Bodyboarding Camp:
https://www.costescamps.com/en/

Pierre's Morey/Churchill products:
https://www.ebodyboarding.com/search?q=pierre&type=product&options[prefix]=last&filter.p.vendor=Churchill&filter.p.vendor=Morey%20Bodyboards&sort_by=relevance

At 72, Tom has been the "elder statesman" on our Tavi Tube Tour trip, and while that doesn't qualify him as the "oldest" bodyboarder we've had the pleasure of riding with, he is eerily calm and capable in surf that would scare most riders half his age, and all of this from a guy who has taken up the sport seriously only in recent years.  Jay gets to know Tom and what makes him tick.  

Long-time California bodyboarder Dave Long has been there since the beginning!  Since the 80s, Dave's name has been a fixture in the competition scene in the Golden State and he's seen the best come and go, and is an encyclopedia of knowledge for bodyboarding on the West Coast.  Jay picked Dave's brain in March of 2025 during the Tavi Tube Tour trip in Fiji and got the lo down on Dave's past, present and future.  

Joao Veiga has been bodyboarding all over Portugal for decades and currently works as a coach at Linha de Onda Surf School and is a coach and guide with Bodyboard Holidays for their Portugal and Central America trips. 

Jay finds out why such an accomplished rider gets so much joy from bringing new riders into the sport, and how his varied interests took him on a path to higher education in the fields of law and naturopathy.  

Jay sits down with Vicki, Rob Barber, Rusty Morrison and Joao Veiga to share injury stories.  They recount their worst injuries and the worst they've witnessed. 

Jay breaks his collarbone:
https://youtu.be/Wl9A-hLBn-8?feature=shared

Interview with Rusty Morrison:
https://youtu.be/ejerwTZ4DAA?feature=shared

Bodyboard-holidays.com
@bodyboardholidays

Insta:
@jayreale
@vickireale
@rust_in_peace_
@robbarber007
@joao83veiga
@ebodyboarding
@tribeboards

Jay's family talks about their travels and some of the trials and tribulations of traveling as a surfing family. 

Daughter Saige:
*Insta:
@saigereale
@saigesgoodeats
*TikTok:
@saigealicious

Son Kieran:
*Insta:
@kieranreale
*TikTok:
@kieranisreale

Vicki:
*Insta:
@vickireale
*TikTok:
@vickiisreale

Jay: 
*Insta:
@jayreale

See our travel videos:
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLsNzOBhEhm84z5gBjs6X-goaCGHteSXHL&feature=shared

Travel with us!
https://www.ebodyboarding.com/pages/bodyboarding-travel

One of our sport's most iconic figures during the Golden Age of the sport, O'ahu's Danny Kim singlehandedly carried the torch for the very niche discipline of standup bodyboarding.  

Danny's incredible talents standing up on his finless craft not only blew minds, but took him to top finishes on the US Pro Tour, and garnered plentiful magazine coverage worldwide.  

We discuss Danny's rise in the sport, and what he's been doing to keep himself busy since ending his pro career.   

Jay catches up with the founder of the Vintage Bodyboard Collectors Facebook Ground Damien Alexander on his recent trip to Australia.  

VBC is credited for spearheading the "Board Again" movement- older riders returning to the sport to recapture the magic of their youth which accelerated dramatically during Covid.  

Damien recounts how it all began around the mid-2000s.

Debbie Colwell is truly one of the originals in the bodyboarding industry getting her start more than 4 decades ago eventually starting the iconic American bodyboard brand Custom X in the late 1980s.  She has worked with the best and seen the sport grow from it's infancy to the huge industry it is today.  

Jay gets into Debbie's story from her start to her retirement and all that she's seen along the way. 

http://www.customx.com

Jay sits down with 2024 IBC Visit Maldives Pro Junior Men's Champ, 16-year-old Aussie Jai Taylor to get to know this young phenom.  Jai is an Aussie Champ and 2024 IBC World Tour Rookie of the Year, and burst on the international scene in August of 2024 by winning in his first-ever go at the IBC World Tour.  

How did he start?  Where is he from?  How did he win?  What are his future plans?  We get all the answers!  

Jay and his friend and Bodyboard Holidays owner Rob Barber discuss the current state of the sport in mid-2024 and how it's changed over the years.  Who's doing it, what happened to print media, and local competition, and what's happening with the IBC World Tour?  

They cover all the important topics.  

Joe Evans, Scott Evans and Roger Waller are the unsung legends of bodyboarding.  They were among the sport's first-ever professional bodyboarders in the 1970s, when "The Boogie" was first manufactured.  They are three of a small group of riders that represented the brand, working with Morey promoter Patti Serrano to spread the stoke all over the USA with the Morey Boogie Challenge series, and did it all for the love of the sport.  

This is their story.  

You may not know who Ryder Jalbert is, but you should.   This Maui born-and-bred bodyboarder been quietly charging some of Hawaii's biggest swells in recent years and is on a mission to raise his big-wave game through training, equipment design.  

Jay grills him on the finer points of what got him to this level and where he's headed.  

Jay sits down with Dave during the waiting period for the 2024 Itacoatiara Pro in Brazil to discuss his 10 World Titles,  his rivalry with Sammy Morretino, how he stays at the top of his game in his early 40s, board design, and what's in store for him.

https://www.ebodyboarding.com/collections/hubboards

One of the most iconic rippers in the sport during the 90s and early 2000s,  Santa Barbara's Jacob Reeve had all the talent and skill to be a dominant figure on the world stage.  But his sponsors had other ideas.  Jacob tore the bag out of his local spots and together, helped cement the reputation of a group of riders north of Los Angeles as...to use a cliche...a force to be reckoned with.  

Jacob talks about his bodyboarding days, including his first time pulling off an ARS, BEFORE Eppo introduced it to the world, and how...

Jay corners all the bodyboarders on this year's 2nd week of the Tavi Tube Tour to find out a bit about them and why they jumped on this year's trip. 

The island paradise of Tavarua Island Resort produced perfect surf yet again for Tavi Tube Tour 2024!  Want more info on how to join a future trip?  Click the link below:

Bodyboarding Travel

Jay rewinds the clock 44 years to the very first pro bodyboarding event in Hawaii, and the first-ever bodyboarding event at Pipeline.  1980's The Coca Cola Surecraft North Shore Bodyboard Classic was put on by Robb Rice, who was the sales rep in Hawaii for Surecraft's North Shore bodyboard, which at the time, was arguably the best bodyboard on the market, endorsed by bodyboarding legend, Jack "Da Rippa" Lindholm.  
Robb tells the story of how his groundbreaking event set the stage for the future of competitive bodyboarding at the world's most famous wave.  

Rusty Morrison lives a spartan life of a traveler.  He works long, hard hours as a FIFO guy (Fly In Fly Out), squirrels away his savings, and then goes on global odysseys to warm waves- a life we all aspire to.  

I wanted to find out what makes this DK specialist tick, so I sat down with Rusty during Bodyboard Holidays' El Salvador trip to get the down low on one of Oz's nomadic legends.  

http://www.bodyboard-holidays.com
https://www.ebodyboarding.com/pages/bodyboarding_travel
http://www.instagram.com/rust_in_peace_

The most prominent bodyboarder to come out of the UK's Channel Islands, Colin Crowther from Jersey has been there and done that.  One of the earliest adopters of Tom Morey's brainchild has been at it since the beginning- as a participant, competitor, contest organizer, and even author!   

In recent years, he's taken to spending time searching for uncharted waves in Europe's Arctic, using internet sleuthing to locate some of his destinations.   He occasionally takes forays into the tropics with Rob Barber's Bodyboard Holidays crew, and has stories for days.  Listen in to hear about his journey in the s...

Jay and Vicki took a break from winter to spend most of January into early February in Central America with their friends from Bodyboard Holidays.  First up was Costa Rica, then El Salvador where they feasted on non-stop waves and warm water.  

Jay gives a quick recap of the trip.  

http://www.bodyboard-holidays.com
https://www.ebodyboarding.com/pages/bodyboarding_travel

Jay and Vicki, veteran wave pool aficionados, break down the nuts and bolts of the three most popular wave pools in the USA- WacoSurf, Surf Ranch, and Palm Springs Surf Club.  

They cover logistics, booking, the facilities, the vibe, and of course the waves at each venue.  Bottom line, if you are considering joining one of their wave pool trips, or going on your own, this is a must-listen!  

http://www.wacosurf.com
http://www.kswaveco.com
http://www.palmspringssurfclub.com

https://www.ebodyboarding.com/pages/bodyboarding_travel

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Patti Serrano, one of the architects of our sport's early days, discusses the creation of the BIA competitive tour as well as her insatiable appetite for self-growth and improvement and where that has led her in life, including how it has all circled back to bodyboarding and her relationship with bodyboard inventor Tom Morey. 

http://www.pattiserrano.com

Some might call Patti Serrano one of the many unsung heroes of bodyboarding.  She was there in the beginning!  Tom Morey hired Patti in the late 70s to sell and promote the "Morey Boogie" and she took it from there.  

She built the early Morey team, including riders that became household names in the sport, organized and ran events and clinics and ran some of the very first bodyboarding events ever.  

Later, she started BIM Magazine and ran the BIA competitive tour.  

This is Part 1 of her story. 

GT gives us the goods on how he became a North Shore lifeguard and talks about his brand, GT Boards.  

Jay finally corners 6-time World Champion Guilherme Tamega for a sit down to discuss not only his incredible success as a bodyboarder and icon in the sport, but his endeavors as an Ironman triathlete, businessman , father, husband and North Shore lifeguard.  

The Brazilian madman has done it all, but that isn't stopping him from always searching for a new challenge.  See what makes him tick.  

Part 2:  From pro bodyboarder to publisher, to tv presenter, to entrepreneur, to professional off-road racer and father of two,  Cameron Steele has ticked all the boxes, but he's not done yet.  Jay and Cameron recount the glory days of the sport and talk about what he's up to these days.  

Part 1:  The very first "bad boy of bodyboarding", San Clemente, California's Cameron Steele and Jay chat about their more than 3 decades as friends.   Cameron covers his early days as a pro bodyboarder in an off-road-racing family dynasty and how his path took him from roll cages to rollos and back again, with a pit stop as a publisher, all culminating in a big win at the Baja 1000, the super bowl of off-roach racing.  

This one is a 2-parter!  

The "Godfather of Bodyboarding", 9-time World Champion Mike Stewart sits down with Jay to give his insights into many of life's mysteries as they relate to bodyboarding.  

He reveals a spiritual journey he's undertaken and talks about his motivation to keep competing in his 60s, as well as his ethos behind his successful Science and Gyroll brands.   

You don't want to miss this one!  

South Africa's Pam Bowren has been holding it down for her nation competing in national and international (ISA Games) events  for many years, but recently burst on the international scene with a runner-up spot in 2022's Walker Bay Pro IBC World Tour event.  As a result, she's having a go at the 2023 IBC World Tour, and Jay sat down with her during the 2023 Visit Maldives Pro in August, 2023 to see where she's headed in her quest to make an impact on the pro bodyboarding scene, and find out what life is like back in Capetown, her home. 

Ins...

Portugal's Joana Schenker became that country's first-ever wave-riding World Champ in 2017 and holds multiple national titles in Portugal,  and has created a diverse set of skills that of course include being one of the top bodyboarders in the world, but also a side gig as a model, but more importantly, raising awareness with young people on environmental issues by working with Oceanario De Lisboa doing tours of schools.   

She's the full package, and continues to rank in the top of the IBC World Tour rankings.  Jay sat down with her during the 2023 Visit Maldives Pro to get the...

Jay sits down with 2017 World Champ Iain Campbell.  The South African bodyboarding wizard has gone through some life changes, and continues to excel when he competes, and offers one of the most complete collection of instructional videos on YouTube.  

We wrap up our deep dive into bodyboarding legend Pat Caldwell's career and personal life as he prepares to close another chapter in the book of life and start a new one.  

We continue with our interview with el rollo inventor Pat Caldwell covering the middle part of his bodyboarding career as he transitions out of judging and into "real life".