Even when the blue barrels of Pipeline swallowed his son, there were moments when David David forgot the boy was only 9.

David was a proud father then, giddy on the beach at 'Ehukai as Kalani flirted with danger, a child surfing like a grown man.

But the sea can take on monstrous proportions, especially when the surfer is only 4-feet-7. This winter on O'ahu's North Shore, David sometimes watched Kalani with a trace of fear.

"There were a couple of times he just barely made it over the outside sets, and I would flag him to come in," David said. "He would act like he didn't see me."

Call that moxie or naivete, those are the skills that make Kalani a surf star of tomorrow. Despite his youth, he's an early graduate of the grom experience, in which talent is culled from youth surf contests all year.

With lucrative sponsorship deals at stake, it's no wonder that contests like the Town & Country 10th annual Grom Contest next weekend at Queen's — an event designed to give unsponsored youth surfers competition and exposure — will attract hordes of fresh-faced kids who want to be the next world champ. The summer calendar is filled with similar events that showcase talented teens and pre-teens who hope to make a mark on the surfing world and a sponsor's contract.

Surfers like Kalani.

The fourth-grader at Sunset Elementary got his first surf industry sponsor before he attended kindergarten. He globetrots nearly five months a year for surf and skateboard contests. And he's represented by the Wasserman Media Group, a world leader in sports management.

Kalani got an earlier start than most. During the first years of his life in Costa Rica, where Kalani was born, his dad would surf while Kalani stayed on the beach, tethered to a tree with a surfboard leash.

By 2, though, Kalani was the one surfing. By 5, he was amazing.

"Now there is no arguing over it," said his 41-year-old father, who helps develop communities in Costa Rica, but lives on the North Shore. "He wants to go the professional route. He is already getting money each year to travel. There is no second-guessing now."

It will take careful supervision to keep the boy grounded, David said. Byproducts of his youthful success have ranged from immaturity to bad behavior: tear-filled losses, lying about homework assignments in order to go surfing and hanging out with foul-mouthed friends who are only interested in the trappings of success.

"He realized that wasn't the way to go," David said. "And he realized people are not going to have a hero that is stupid and doesn't seem to have the ability to comment or communicate well."

RIDING THE WAVE

The stakes are high and the lure understandable.

While most young surfers love the sport for the thrill of a good ride, a small echelon of youth are eyeing a different prize. In Hawai'i, there are probably 150 to 200 sponsored youth surfers, most between the ages of 10 to 16.

The stars of the surf-grom world — many of them barely through puberty — stride chin up through a fantasy most adults would find irresistible.

Free surfboards.

Free surf trips.

Free clothing, sunglasses and shoes.

Their photographs in surf magazines.

And sponsorship money that dwarves the minimum wage — reaching $10,000 to $60,000 a year.

"What some of these kids live with is not anything like reality for most 12-year-old kids," said Adam Borrello, director of licensing and marketing for Town & Country as well as its surf-team manager. "They are getting treated to a level of experience that surfers who work 40 to 60 hours a week save up for multiple years to do just once."

More boys and girls are surfing now than ever before, and more sponsors are scouting their talents, Borrello said.

But it takes more than acrobatic wave-riding to make an impression.

"More sponsors are out looking at the total package," he said. "They need to be a good surfer. They need to be good-looking, because that makes them more marketable. And they need to be articulate."

But Borrello maintains that the pressures on these young surfers are no different than those felt among the best Little League baseball players. The surf industry — a $3.4 billion-a-year engine driven by style and personality — views its youngest charges as an investment that need careful nurturing.

"I don't think there are guys breathing down their necks," he said. "They want to see these guys be successful, but I don't think they are being heavy on the kids."

Still, grooming the groms is no small feat, especially when it comes to keeping them unspoiled. It is an important task shared equally by parents and the surf companies who manage teams, Borrello said.

Groms need to be reminded that only a few of them will become professional surfers when they grow up, he said.

And that surfing is supposed to be fun.

"There is something to be said for being a kid," Borrello said. "I don't know how healthy it is at 9 to be so dead set on being a world champ. You could be in the spotlight for a moment, and then nothing at age 13."

MEET THE PARENTS

The parents of young surf prodigies — like the parents of youth in other sports — are often the source of the greatest pressure, said Glen Moncata, vice president in charge of Quiksilver in the Pacific. The surf-industry giant sponsors 35 groms in Hawai'i, most of them boys.

"Believe me, that is one of the toughest things in the business," said Moncata, who has been with Quiksilver for 27 years. "When you sign a kid who is 12 to 16 years old, they come with baggage — their parents."

At surf contests, those parents stand out because they're the adults jogging up and down the beach screaming advice to their children about where the waves are breaking, he said. It's not unlike a screaming parent on the sideline of a youth soccer match.

"I see this every day," he said. "Most of the surf companies have coaches who try to keep the parents away from the kids. We want them all to have fun. Some of their parents drive their kids so much."

A code of conduct that includes good grades in school and responsible behavior on the beach is an industry standard, he said. Misbehaving is as bad as forgetting to wear your sponsor's ball cap.

"We have created responsible kids," Moncata said. "I think that the amateur surfing associations have done a great job of controlling kids and making them responsible for their actions, whereas 20 years ago, that wasn't the case at all."

Tommy Asing, team manager for the surf company Local Motion, prides himself on being a parent first — even though his 14-year-old son Keanu is a hot grom who got his first sponsor when he was 9.

Asing, who has the tough, gruff exterior of a 48-year-old former karate champ, is constantly worrying about the emotional stability of youth surfers. He stresses the big picture over fleeting victories no one will remember.

"The industry ruins kids," Tommy Asing said. "Our kids are spoiled. They get things for free. I had one kid who came in from a contest heat, crying. I said why? She said, 'Because I lost.' I told her she had so many great things left, her friends, her family, a day at the beach."

Education and character are as critical to a grom's resume as tube time.

"I want them to not just be great surfers but great people," he said. "What you do only lasts for so long. Who you are is forever."

Asing sometimes speaks at elementary and middle school career days, and when he does, he usually holds up a surfing magazine, but not because the surfer on the cover is a pro.

"I point out that someone had to design this cover and take this picture," he said. "They are just amazed. They never thought about that."

Father and son are often at the beach, but Tommy refuses to coach Keanu.

"The key to his success is me not stepping in the way," he said. "I want my son to do it for himself, not for me."

Last week, they were at Kewalo's so Keanu could prepare for the Quiksilver King of the Groms contest. The first-place prize (taken by Carissa Moore, 14) was a trip to France.

"Some kids don't have much and can't see things," said Keanu, a muscled, solemn boy still going through growth spurts. "We're lucky to see how different cultures are. It's fun."

No matter what happens next, Keanu has had a great time surfing around the world. He's already been to France — twice — Peru, Portugal and Australia. This summer, he will surf in three Mainland contests, including the national amateur championships next week in San Clemente.

"I want to make the finals," he said without hesitation.

While turning professional is his long-term goal, Keanu is still an eighth-grader from 'Ewa Beach who struggles with math but triumphs in English. It reminds him who he is.

"When I go to school, I'm like every other kid in school," he said. "They treat me like everyone else."

Reach Mike Gordon at mgordon@honoluluadvertiser.com.