![\"Jacob](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/19260726_060826-wtvd-surfer-kid-clean-water-img.jpg\"\/)
<\/p>\nHOLLY SPRINGS, N.C. (WTVD) — Twelve-year-old Jacob Hepp is preparing to take on the biggest waves of his life as he gets ready to compete in the USA Surfing Junior Championships in California.<\/p>\n
Surfing isn’t the sport most people expect from a kid growing up in Holly Springs, a place with no sand, no swells, and certainly no surf. But Jacob said he’s used to surprising people.<\/p>\n
“A lot of people don’t expect, like some way from my friends to just be like, actually really good at surfing, and a lot of my friends are just they think it’s pretty cool,” he said.<\/p>\n
Jacob first picked up a surfboard at age 6 during a family vacation to Kure Beach.<\/p>\n
“When I was 6, it was way different. I would catch the little wave,” he said.<\/p>\n
What started as small waves and early losses soon turned into hours of practice.<\/p>\n
“I used to just get last every time, but then I just kept working. I’ll just be in the water all the time,” he said.<\/p>\n
As the waves got bigger, Jacob got better. His dedication paid off when he won the Eastern Surfing Association Mid Atlantic Regional, earning him a spot at the national competition.<\/p>\n
“Making heat is like a pretty big deal,” he said.<\/p>\n
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Jacob Hepp started surfing at Kure Beach when he was 6.<\/p>\n
Courtesy of family<\/p>\n
His father, former Holly Springs High School coach and Panther Creek basketball athletic director LJ Hepp, said watching Jacob’s passion has been a joy.<\/p>\n
“It’s been awesome. Any kid, any parent watching a kid that has a passion for something and is willing to put in the practice time and the effort and their sacrifices that, you know, he makes to be able to try to compete at that type of level,” he said.<\/p>\n
Hepp said one of the best parts of Jacob’s surfing journey is that he can’t coach him the way he did on the basketball court.<\/p>\n