2007 Billabong Grom Series Bringing More Fun to the Beach

The 2007 Billabong Grom Series presented by Oceanbridge is set to bring a whole new element to the beach this summer. With children’s television station Nickelodeon on board alongside Coke, not only will the best young surfers be entertaining summer crowds, we are set to see a whole array of on land action as well. Look out for ‘Nick takes over the Beach’ where their famous cartoon characters such as Sponge Bob Square Pants keep everyone entertained – heck he may even try his hand at surfing! There will be all kinds of beach activities, sand castle building and face painting not to mention the awesome action in the water.

The increasingly popular three event series catering for surfers under the age of 16 unearths new talent year upon year and provides a launching pad for New Zealand’s elite junior surfers. New Zealand’s highest ranked female surfer on the international stage – Airini Mason first started out at these events. The likes of Paige Hareb (Tara) and Mischa Davis (Piha) followed suit and now all three girls compete on the prestigious Australasian Pro Junior Tour as well as other international events. For the boys it is the likes of high profile Richard Christie (Mah), Morehu Roberts (Gis) and Tim O’Connor (Mnt) who have contested these events in past years who are now concentrating their efforts overseas.

The beginning of each year marks a change in the guard with many of the older surfers moving on and the younger surfers moving up a division. The likes of Matt Hewitt (Mnt) and Buck Woods (Gis) will no doubt be front runners in the Under 16s as will 2006 national representative Johnny Hicks (Gis). Tane Wallis (Piha) finally makes his move out of the under 12s which will leave that division wide open to a number of young up and comers keen to stand in Tane’s place.

In the girls Grace Spiers (WGM) and Alexis Poulter (Piha) will tough it out in the absence of Hareb who exits the under 16s. However this year it is unlikely to be a two horse race with Auckland surfers Georgia Cooper and Rosa Thompson both impressing everyone in recent events.

A great battle lies ahead and Billabong will again be giving the series title holder in each division an air ticket and entry into one of Australia’s most prestigious grom events – Occy’s Grom Comp which is held on the Gold Coast every year*. The prize not only sounds amazing but it provides New Zealand’s best young surfers the chance to pit themselves against the Aussies – widely regarded as having the biggest talent pool of surfers in the world.

Make sure you get to witness some of these events this summer. There will be some great surfing and plenty of fun activities to partake in. Keep your eyes peeled for the Billabong Grom Series event near you:

Billabong Grom Series Event One – 3rd – 4th February Mount Maunganui
Billabong Grom Series Event Two – February 17th – 18th February Whangamata
Billabong Grom Series Event Three – March 17th/18th Piha Beach Auckland

Source: Surfing New Zealand

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