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The Inside Section · Photo Essay

Nobody Gets Knocked Out

Four brothers from Jacksonville Beach run a surf contest under the pier every August. The surfing is the part you can see from the sand. The reason for it is a foundation that carried their family through cancer.

Photographs and text by Michael Smith Jacksonville Beach Pier · Aug. 29, 2026 Benefiting the Live for Today Foundation

By the time I got down to the pier the contest was well underway — a scaffold of judges over a rainbow banner, a row of sponsor tents, and a stretch of sand where a good share of the people watching had a heat of their own still to come.

The Thompson Brothers Classic is run by four brothers from Jacksonville Beach — Trey, Evan, Cody and Tristan Thompson — in partnership with Sunrise Surf Shop. The reason it exists is not the surfing. Trey, the oldest, is a two-time brain cancer survivor, and the Live for Today Foundation — a Jacksonville nonprofit whose whole premise is helping young adults with cancer focus on living rather than on the diagnosis — helped the family through his treatment. The contest is how the brothers pay that back: entry fees, raffle tickets, donations and sponsorships all go to the foundation. The first Classic raised more than $15,000.

It shows in how the day is run. Nobody gets eliminated. Every surfer gets two heats, and the two best waves across both are what count, so a bad twenty minutes doesn't end anyone's day. There is cash on the line and there are serious local surfers in the water, but there is also room for people who entered because their friends did.

What follows is one photographer's pass through the day, front to back.

The contest area
Spectators stand on the sand in front of the Sunrise Surf Shop judging scaffold and sponsor tents.
01The judging scaffold and the Sunrise Surf Shop banner on the sand south of the pier. Much of the crowd on the beach at any given moment is waiting on a heat of its own.
Competitors and spectators gather at the waterline with the Jacksonville Beach Pier behind them.
02The waterline at the north end of the contest area. The pier does most of the work of framing this event — every heat runs in its shadow.
A competitor in a yellow jersey carries a board toward the water.
03Yellow jersey, heading out. Competitors walk down from the tents and paddle straight into the rip beside the pilings.
The heats
A surfer launches off the lip, board and spray in the air.
04Committing to a section that mostly wasn’t there. It went about how you’d expect.

05–06One wave, two frames. The bottom turn and the finish. Everyone here surfs two heats and keeps their two best waves across both, so a wave like this one is worth chasing right up to the horn.

A surfer in a blue jersey rides across a small wave, framed by the pier pilings.
07Framed by the pier. Heats ran in both directions off the sandbar depending on the tide.
A surfer carves off the top of a wave, arms extended.
08Off the top. The women’s heats ran through the middle of the day.
A young competitor in a red jersey turns on a small inside wave.
09A junior heat on the inside. The grom divisions drew the loudest beach of the day.
Between heats
A competitor walks out of the shallows carrying a board as a dog stands alongside.
10Coming in. The dogs at this event have the run of the place and know it.
Two people talk at the waterline, one in a Thompson Brothers Classic shirt, the other in a competition jersey.
11A debrief at the waterline, jersey still on. Half the coaching at this contest happens in ankle-deep water.
A competitor walks up the beach with a board under one arm, swimmers behind.
12Heat over, walking back up to the tents past the regular Saturday beach crowd, most of whom had no idea a contest was on.
Awards
An organizer hands a wooden placing plaque to a young competitor in front of the event banner.
13Plaques handed out in front of the banner, one division at a time, with the surf still going behind the crowd.
Four men stand in front of the event banner holding placing plaques and prize bags.
14The men’s division, first through fourth.
Four women stand in front of the event banner holding placing plaques, envelopes and prize bags.
15The women’s division, first through fourth. Plaques, envelopes, and a tote from the shop.
Junior competitors line up with their surfboards in front of the Thompson Brothers Classic banner as results are announced.
16The juniors line up with their boards for the last call of the day.

The last plaque went out in front of the banner with the surf still going behind the crowd, and then it was over for another year. What doesn't photograph is the part that matters: a foundation that helped one family through the worst stretch of its life, and four brothers who decided the way to say thank you was to get everybody they know to paddle out once a summer.

Where the money goes

Proceeds from the Thompson Brothers Classic — entry fees, raffle, donations and sponsorships — go to the Live for Today Foundation, a Jacksonville nonprofit that supports young adults living with cancer through adventure, community and healthy-lifestyle programs. The first Classic raised more than $15,000.

If you couldn't make it to the beach, you can still give: live-for-today.org/donate.

About this essay

The Thompson Brothers Classic is organized by Trey, Evan, Cody and Tristan Thompson in partnership with Sunrise Surf Shop. First Coast Lineup attended as an observer and received no compensation, access consideration, or copy approval from the organizers.

Captions describe what was observed from the beach. Competitors are identified by name only where the name was confirmed on the day; where it was not, the caption describes the moment rather than the person. Corrections and identifications are welcome at msmith@firstcoastlineup.com and will be made to the live page.

Fundraising totals and event details are as provided by the organizers. Full results are posted by the event.