GROMMETS SHINE ON FINAL DAY OF THE WAHU SURFER GROMS COMP PRES. BY WOOLWORTHS ON SYDNEY'S NORTHERN BEACHES
Report by Surfing NSW. Photos by Ethan Smith / Surfing NSW.
WAHU SURFER GROMS COMP PRES. BY WOOLWORTHS LANDS ON SYDNEY'S NORTHERN BEACHES
DEE WHY, SYDNEY Saturday, 15 October 2016
The Wahu Surfer Groms Comp was graced by picturesque three-foot peaks at Dee Why today for event two of the nine event series.
Jarvis Earle’s (Cronulla, NSW) dangerous frontside attack was perfectly suited to the punchy left rip-bowls of Dee Why. The lightening fast goofy-footer surfed well beyond his years in the Under-14 Boys, posting a handful of impressive scores in excess of seven points and made it known that he’d be a major threat going towards the finals.
Saxon Reber (Beacon Hill, NSW) put on a dominant display of rail surfing to post a 15.84 heat total (out of a possible 20 points) in the Under-14 Boys. As a result, Reber has taken the top spot on the leaderboard going into tomorrow’s finals.
Northern Beaches duo Cedar Leigh-Jones (Avalon, NSW) and Lily Macdonald (Freshwater, NSW) looked unstoppable over the course of their respective Under-14 Girls exchanges with both surfers posting heat totals in excess of 15.00 points. Both surfers performed a variety of textbook hooks and turns to post the aforementioned totals and send a warning shot to their fellow competitors.
Landen Smales (Peregian Beach, Qld) got within a whisker of posting a perfect wave score, notching up a 9.5 (out of a possible ten points) in the Under-10 Boys. Smales executed five critical turns to post the score and leave his fellow competitors chasing two-wave combinations to take away his lead.
Local surfer Fletcher Kelleher (Freshwater, NSW) showed he was hungry for victory, posting a massive 15.17 heat total in the Under-10 Boys. Kelleher will face Koby Jackson (Lake Tabourie, NSW), Joel Cornock (Cronulla, NSW) and Pheonix Visscher (Redhead, NSW) in the opening Under-10 heat tomorrow.
The main base for event two of the Wahu Surfer Groms Comp series presented by Woolworths is Dee Why with backup locations of Curl Curl, Freshwater and Long Reef.
Regarded as one of the major stepping stones in the development of young Australian surfers, the 9-event Wahu Surfer Groms Comps presented by Woolworths caters for surfers from Under 8 to Under 14 and will be held in New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, Western Australia and South Australia over summer. The Under 8 is a mixed division with parent assists.
As an added bonus, the respective winners of the Under 14 boys’ and girls’ divisions from each event will receive an invite to attend an all-expenses paid, three-day Wahu Surf Camp at the Hurley Surfing Australia High Performance Centre(HPC). For the South Australian and Victorian events, the Wahu Surf Camp prize will be awarded to the highest place U14 Boy & Girl who reside in that respective State.
Each entrant will also receive a Wahu Surfer Groms Comps presented by Woolworths t-shirt for entering, plus a Wahu beach product and there will be plenty of beach games and giveaways at each event.
Adding to the high stakes is the Woolworths Fresh Wave Awards, presented to the best and fairest male and female surfers from each event. The recipients will have a high degree of sportsmanship and exhibit future surfing potential and will be awarded a $250 Woolworths voucher each.
At selected Wahu events, Flight Centre, the travel experts, will be giving competitors and spectators the chance to try out their mechanical surfboard and win prizes in the ‘Flight Centre Air Powered Flight Cube.’
The Wahu Surfer Groms Comps presented by Woolworths have helped to launch the careers of many of Australia's most promising junior surfers with more than 800 children set to take part in the 2016/17 event series.
Previous champions include Matt Banting, Jacob Willcox ,Luke Hynd, Eli Steele, Kai Hing, Chris Zaffis, Quinn Bruce, Ellie Jean Coffey, Macy Callaghan, Isabella Nichols, Holly Wawn and Laura Poncini.
Wahu Surfer Groms Comps presented by Woolworths 2016/2017 Series Schedule:
EVENT 1 – Coffs Harbour, NSW - Sep 10 - 11, 2016
EVENT 2 – Northern Beaches, NSW – Oct 15 - 16, 2016
EVENT 3 - Cronulla NSW – Oct 22-23, 2016
EVENT 4 - Kiama, NSW – Nov 5-6, 2016
EVENT 5 - Ocean Grove, VIC – Nov 19-20, 2016
EVENT 6 - Fleurieu Peninsula, SA – Nov 26, 2016
EVENT 7 - Sunshine Coast, QLD – Dec 10-11, 2016
EVENT 8 - Gold Coast, QLD - Jan 10 - 11, 2017
EVENT 9 - Trigg Point, WA – Jan 28-29, 2017
Report by Surfing NSW. Photos by Ethan Smith / Surfing NSW.
