What a Weekend at the Junior Club Champs!
Weld Road was firing over the weekend, delivering perfect peeling waves into the bay for our Junior Club Champs. Over 60 young shredders—boys and girls from ages 2 to 15—competed for their age group titles, best wipeout, gnarliest peel, and, of course, the coveted prize bags.
The push-in division had the crowd on their feet, cameras at the ready to capture those golden moments for the fridge at home. Both the girls and boys showed off a summer of dedication, proving that every opportunity in the water has paid off.
The development of our junior surfers is something we’re incredibly proud of—a testament to the hard work of our committee, surf coaches Simon Deken at DekenWaves, and more recently Thandi Tipene leading the girls, and Tommy Butland with the high-performance groms. Our programs are thriving, from club board use to coaching, and it shows—while the town club junior champs had only managed just 11 entrants, we had over 60! The success continued at the Primary, Intermediate, and High School Champs, where our young surfers made their mark.
📸 John Quilter
A massive thank you to our competition committee—Chris Faherty, Jono Watts, and Catherine Gillispie—along with everyone who helped make the day a success. Big shoutout to our incredible sponsors: Vertigo, Rip Curl, Wahine Waves, and Chur Chicken!
Looking ahead, next year our groms will be ripping in style with brand-new rash shirts, thanks to the support of BTW, Surfside Electrical, Emma Taylor Powers Realty, and R&Co Beauty. Look Good, Surf Great!
A huge congratulations to all our competitors—we hope you had an epic day. Bring on next year!
Winners:
🏆 U10 Boys: Mikey Christiansen
🏆 U12 Boys: Clarence Faherty
🏆 U14 Boys: Koa Gillispie
🏆 U12 Girls: Isla Priest
🏆 U14 Girls: Lyla Termath
🏆 U16 Girls: Ava Curd
🏆 Boogie Boarding: George Webber