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South Island Grommets amping for first event of South Island Grom Series |
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Written by Aaron Lock
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Friday, 13 November 2009 |
 The three event South Island Grom Series is set to kick off tomorrow (Saturday 14th November) with the first event being held at Sumner Beach, Christchurch.
The event aims to attract young surfers from throughout the South Island. Sumner Beach provides the ideal venue for a junior event with the gentle beach break especially suiting the under 12 division. The under 12 age group has the greatest number of entries this year so the young grommets will be amping to rip up the Sumner surf.
Surfing New Zealand together with the South Island Surfing Association initiated the three-event South Island Grom Series in 2008 and this year the series is planned to take place in the South Island during November and December and January this summer.
The events will take place in Dunedin and Christchurch targeting surfers under the age of 16 with five separate divisions contested at each event – Under 16, 14 for both males and females and a combined Under 12 division.
The new series of events has been developed to grow the base of junior surfers in the South Island. The events will also provide a platform for the South Island’s top junior surfers to advance their competitive skills with other surfers of a similar age before going on to test themselves at a national level. The series will also provide valuable opportunities for first time competitors to give competition a go in a friendly environment.
The South Island Surfing Association is also holding surfing workshops based around the events. The workshops will aim to educate surfers on technical aspects of high performance surfing and the competition environment, as well as providing an opportunity for club coaches to gain new ideas. The first workshop will be held on Sunday 15 November at 9.30am at Sumner Beach.
"The South Island Grom Series will be a fantastic opportunity for our grommets to further develop their competitive surfing” commented South Island Surfing Association Vice President Aaron Lock adding further “The South Island surfers are lucky to enjoy fantastic waves in amazing locations with few crowds but our geographic isolation is sometimes a barrier to competitive success”.
The three event series will allow the junior surfers the chance to compete in an environment away from the South Island’s top surfers in the open division. The formula (splitting this age group into their own events) has worked brilliantly in the North Island where entries at some grommet events are now extending beyond capacity.
Lock also sees this strategy as highly important “The series will complement the existing South Island Surfing Circuit and the Surfing New Zealand Grom Series. It will also provide a boost and will allow our grommets to compete at a national level without the expense of travelling to the North Island”.
The series kicks off with Event One on the 14th November at Sumner Beach. Event two will be on 12th December at Waikuku Beach, Christchurch. The series will conclude with the third and final event at St Clair Beach in Dunedin on 30th January 2010.
Information
For further information regarding the South Island Grom Series, please contact Ben Kennings at Surfing New Zealand 021 2278732, benkennings@surfingnz.co.nz or Aaron Lock at the South Island Surfing Association – 021 0307231 or aaronlock@xtra.co.nz.
Event websites – www.surfingnz.co.nz or www.sisa.co.nz
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