East Coast Surfers
Mindy Ballou Fitzpatrick
Ocean Athlete is proud to be endorsed by and have on our team, Mindy Ballou-Fitzpatrick, a life-long Morehead City native and surfing champion. She is as well known for her tomato pies and baked goods as she is for her impressive sports careers in basketball and surfing.
Mindy graduated from West Carteret High School as a basketball All-American. She went on to become a three time All-American at the University of South Carolina and graduated with a degree in exercise physiology. In 1994, she was crowned the National Women’s Surfing Champion and continued to compete on the local and national level. The Carteret News-Times named her Athlete of the Century in 2000. In 2002, she was in the first class to be inducted in the West Carteret High School Hall of Fame. She also started a non-profit basketball clinic for girls called Mindy’s Hoop Clinic.
Mindy and her husband, Matt, have two wonderful children, Matt Jr, who is 10, and Annie, 7. They own and operate The Friendly Market in Morehead City, located on the corner of Friendly Road and Bridges Street. Featured at the market is Mindy’s Baked Goods, all homemade by Mindy. It started out with simple well-known items such as cookies, breads and pies but now consists of out of the ordinary and not your run of the mill family recipes. Mindy’s creations are not only tasteful and different but include the freshest, local ingredients. New additions early on included basil bread with fresh mozzarella, mango bread and an immediate hit, tomato pie. For more information on their market, visit thefriendlymarket.com.
The Market consists of Mindy’s Baked Goods, Garner’s Farm and Quinn’s Produce providing fresh local produce daily. The Plant Stand offers a huge selection of annuals, perennials, vegetables plants, hanging baskets, shrubs and trees. Every Saturday, nestled along the wooded path of the market are local artisan vendors offering works of art and crafts. The Market keeps Mindy and Matt very busy.
Ocean Athlete is excited to have such a positive influence, in Mindy, on surfing, where she still regularly competes, and amongst women who aspire to become great athletes.
