GULF SHORES — Even in a county that abuts the Gulf Coast, a professional sport such as skimboarding can often go overlooked.

Maybe that's because there has never been a world champion skimboarder call Baldwin County home.

Mason Broussard looks to change that.

The 25-year-old professional skimboarder, currently ranked No. 1 in the country, is back home where it all started: Gulf Shores, Alabama. After graduating in 2019, Broussard has basically been touring for competition since, only coming home to visit for days at a time. This summer, he is getting the chance to spend extended time with family.

"It's always great to be back home," Broussard said. "I never get to spend as much time as I'd like to when I am here, but when I get to come back it's always good to see how much the town has grown, for one. And being able to see friends and family. Just taking it back to the good ole days where everything started; you just can't forget your home."

Broussard also mentioned his sister's recent newborn baby and his anticipation of being the fun uncle. He currently works with his friend River at Gulf Shores Public Beach running parasailing boats.

But even while taking time away, the nation's top-ranked skimboarder stays training on the waters on the shores that he goes back two decades with.

THE GRIND

Broussard started skateboarding at the local parks at the age of 5 before seeing others take to the water with skimboards. It only took a few times falling on the board before he fell in love with it, and the rest is history.

But while in school, Broussard played organized team sports and only grabbed the boards as a hobby — that was until he started competing.

"I played basketball in school, a lot of team sports," Broussard stated. "I started traveling around to competitions. Well, I did a couple local ones here and then traveled to Florida when I was about 14. I saw some younger guys doing it as well, and then once I went out to Ohana Beach for that competition, I saw some real pros and saw the potential of what you could really do with the sport."

After that, he ran with the idea of becoming great. Broussard became a professional in 2018 at the age of 17.

From sponsor-assisted flights and lodging to building out a Sprinter van and staying with friends in communities near competition sites, Broussard has spent extended stretches away from home while pursuing titles. Over the last three years, he has been chasing that No. 1 ranking, finishing second in both 2024 and 2025.

"I've been battling for that for the past about three years," he stated. "And I've been super close to first but missed out on a couple competitions so couldn't get those extra points. The previous two years, I've ended up placing second in the country. But as of right now, I am No. 1 and just looking to finish that out with this year."

Training for those titles often looks different from traditional sports, but Broussard still trains like a professional athlete, conditioning his body in preparation to stay in shape across long stretches of competition. His background in basketball and other team sports has also carried over into his skimboarding career, helping him maintain the stamina needed to stay sharper than other competitors.

Skimboarders typically have about 10 minutes across three heats to make their impression on judges — and Broussard said his endurance can be a separating factor.

"To be at a top performance level, you definitely need to be working out," he said. "A lot of mobility stretches; not too much weights really — it's a lot of wear and tear on your body, and it's not just your legs or your arms or any of that, you're kind of doing a mix of everything with your body. Just working at it when I'm not at work (competing); going to work out, stretching and going through all the motions to try to be the best."

So far in 2026, Broussard is ranked 26 points ahead of Zach Rubin for the professional men's No. 1 spot on the USA Skim Tour.

GROWING THE SPORT

Typically, pro athletes don't begin to give back to the sport until they have called it a career. But Broussard is going about it in a different way, teaching the next generation of Gulf Coast natives how to skate, surf and skim.

In addition to his part-time job on the parasail boats, Broussard is also giving out lessons to anyone interested in learning how to hit the waves or the ramps.

"I was very grateful for somebody to teach me the ropes of skimboarding, surfing and skateboarding," Broussard said. "If it wasn't for those guys, I never would have really got into the sport. Now that I'm at a point where I'm doing a lot of competitions, I've seen the bigger picture after all these years of trying to give back to the kids and try to motivate them to have a different outlook on sports, instead of just all team sports."

The last time we spoke with Broussard, he briefly mentioned the advantage he feels comes from growing up on the Gulf Coast, and he echoed that sentiment again, stating that both the Gulf Coast and East Coast tend to have less-powerful waters on the shores compared to the West Coast. In his view, those easier conditions are a great place to learn and land tricks that translate into higher scores in competition.

"I definitely have an advantage from growing up and learning how to skimboard here because I have a lot more tricks in my bag than a lot of the other guys do," he said. "For instance, in California they're home to the most skimboarding world champions out there, and they're excellent at wave riding. Here, we definitely have the upper hand for tricks. It's honestly a great place to learn how to skimboard because the ocean isn't too powerful."

Broussard has also leaned into the sponsorship route, a path many individual sport athletes take as competition becomes more professional. He is currently sponsored by Zap Skimboards and said he has held sponsorship status of some kind since he was 10 years old, giving him access to support and travel opportunities as he developed in the sport.

"You start out with a basic sponsorship, and then after just seeing my results over time, sticking with me and traveling around, sponsorships will slowly progress into something more," he said.

In addition to his sponsorships, Broussard also runs his own brand, Wavy Wonders. He launched the website in 2017 as a way to help offset travel expenses associated with competing. The brand features clothing, his own models of Zap Skimboards and other merchandise that align with his personal style and love for the sport.

"I am trying to collect profit to travel to all these events and competitions," he said. "It's been a huge help. The past couple of years, I have been kind of taking a break from it — I am at a point where sponsorships are helping out more. But I am looking to get more into private lessons and sponsoring events with that (Wavy Wonders). I just want to give back to the community as much as I can."

CREDIT WHERE IT'S DUE

Behind all his efforts to teach the sport and be a local mouthpiece for skimboarding, Broussard had to learn it all somewhere. He made sure not to forget those people.

He credited a group of local riders who first taught him the basics and got him on the board while growing up in the Meyer Park neighborhood, pointing to those names as the influences toward his love for the sport. Broussard even took the time to shout out local skateboarders he liked to be around known by nicknames Nemo and Hercules, both of whom he stated were some of the best in the area.

"One of the main guys was Cory McCready," Broussard said. "He lives here in Gulf Shores and taught me when I was probably about 8 years old — how to skateboard and how to surf."

He even took the time to shout out his mom for everything she has done for him as well including getting him to and from competitions.

Soon, competition will resume and Broussard will return to the road in pursuit of a world championship. But for now, the top-ranked male skimboarder in the United States is spending time at home on the white-sand beaches of Gulf Shores.