Balancing School and Surfing is a challenge. On the mainland High Schools do have Surf Team and compete in leagues and are accountable to grades and all the same requirements to play football or any other Varsity Sport.
You can win State and National titles and Letter in Varsity Surf Team.
Beginning the ASP Tour is the natural next step and it HAS to begin in your teens in the ASPJuniors to get ranked. It is ASP that runs the contests and tour on weekdays all over the place. That requires travel and days out of school. ASP does not care about school schedules. If you need to get sponsored for the $ to travel and enter into these events..then you have to surf these events for the sponsors. If you wait until after high school and almost 19 years old you will be way behind in both rankings and past the sponsor pick up age and you age out at 20, then you better be good enough to surf in the Mens QS division , if you havent done Juniors for years you probably won't be good enough.. You can always go to college....but you can't always surf the Junior tour.