Meet the Coaches

Meet the team

We take huge pride in the quality of coaching at the O'Neill Surf Academy.  A variety of qualifications and experience makes for an interesting team! And just how good are our coaches??? Well, why not ask the thousands of surfers we have taught over the past fifteen years - all of whom took home with them experience of a lifetime! Some have even taken it to the next level, visiting us regularly and enjoying with us the pleasure of riding waves!

REMEMBER TO CHECK OUT OUR BLOG to get the latest info on who's doing what, and all the best gossip from the beach. We're also on Facebook and Twitter making it easy for you to stay in touch with us and share your surfing experience with others.... you may even make some new surfing buddies along the way!

Find out a bit more about our coaches below.......

Ashleigh Bennetts

Ashleigh Bennetts:Academy Owner - BSA Level 3 Head Coach. Kids Dept' & Club Coach.

Ashleigh has high standards when it comes to coaching, always nominated to take on the Stag Groups! and loves coaching on a 1-1 basis. With 5 years experience at the O'Neill Surf Academy and previous years with club and lifeguard experience. Ash is a BSA Level 3 coach and ISA judge. After taking over the running of the surf school from Pat and Sally over year ago Ashleigh is developing the Academy with some exiting new changes for 2009. She will be visiting California over the winter months - California being the home of O'Neill she will be bringing back some new ideas and direction for the Academy.  
SEE MORE PICTURES OF ASHLEIGH >>>

Matty Stokes

Matty first did his coaching hours with The O'Neill Surf Academy when he was starting out - now Matty is back with us for 2009 and you'll find him at the beach or in the surf daily! Matty aka Barbie is a huge character and delivers some of the funniest surf lessons we've ever seen! He loves to surf and surfing is his love! When he's not working you'll find him in the coastal waters of Newquay or wherever its pumping. Matty has just returned from his winter stint in Cost Rica. He had an amazing time exploring South and Central America and is as blonde and brown as ever. We're not jealous or anything!

Tom Butler

Tom Butler: Level 2 Coach

Tom joined the academy in 2006 to coach in between his busy schedule of competing. Tom is busy Lifeguarding this season at Towan beach in Newquay. When he's not saving lives he'll be training hard for the coming year to hopefully gain himself another British Title. He has picked up some new sponsors this year and is looking to take a few titles in the British and European surfing competitions. Tom will be visiting us occasionally this to help coach on some of the busy days in between his busy schedule of training and travelling. We wish Tom all the best for 2009
SEE MORE IMAGES OF TOM >>>

CHECK OUT TOM'S LATEST ARTICLE >>>

Dan Rawsthorn

Dan Rawsthorn aka "Tractor": BSA Level 2 Senior Coach.

Dan first met us whilst joining West Coast Surfari on a surf tour to Morocco. His passion for surfing grew into the area of coaching and he has now been coaching for 5 years.  Dan is lucky enough to run all our West Coast Surfari Tours to Morocco, J-Bay, Australia and France. In between his busy schedule of surfing the world's best waves, Dan can be found at Watergate or on the golf course. Now happily married with a kiddie on the way Dan will be working non stop in 2009 - the man is a machine!! 

 SEE MORE PICTURES OF DAN >>>

'Curly Steve' - aka Steve Patterson

The most recent addition to our coaching team is Curly Steve.  An avid local surfer who rips on a longboard, with a variety of dangerous manouves under his belt (including the headstand) Steve is loving coaching at the Academy. 

Rachael Taylor

Having previously worked at West Coast Surfari back in the old days, we are delighted to have Rachael back with us this year. She’s a great coach and a great surfer….and has travelled around the world in recent years surfing some of the worlds best waves! She has great skills when it comes to teaching, at all levels, and is a tremendous asset to our team - helping us to give you the best surf lessons from some of the best coaches in the business!! She will be coaching daily at the Academy, and when not at the beach she will be joining our office team to tackle the mountains of paperwork! We are extremely proud to have 2 female coaches at the Academy for 2009 and hope to pass the benefits onto our students!  Rachaels has been taking the contest scene by storm in the recent months and has been posting some good results on the UK Womens Pro Surf Tour.