Surfing Australia News Autumn 2016 | Page 29

The way Subway® has come on board to help create this series, it really does lay a pathway for the kids’ future.” Enever spoke passionately about what it meant to her to mentor the group of young female athletes at the camp. Eleven of Australia’s top junior male and female surfers were put through their paces by Australian World Surf League (WSL) Championship Tour surfers Joel Parkinson and Laura Enever at the Subway® Surf Camp at the Hurley Surfing Australia High Performance Centre (HPC) in Casuarina from February 9-11th. Parkinson, the 2012 World Champion and a Subway® Surf Series ambassador, along with Enever, surfed with, shared advice and mentored the participants. “It’s not the first time I have seen these kids surf, but is great to watch their development and they have all definitely improved immensely,” Parkinson said. “These talented kids come from all over the country so when they all get together and do these camps it is great for their surfing and their future. The Subway® Pro Junior events, which includes 18 and under boys and girls divisions, form part of the 2016 WSL Australasian Junior Qualifying Series (JQS), providing the winning athletes with an opportunity to win a coveted world title, at the WSL World Junior Championships in early 2017. “The girls are ripping and I just love coming up here and hanging out with them. To be able to boost their confidence and give them any information or advice we can is an amazing opportunity and it’s awesome that Subway® has done this.” Proudly supported by WSL, Surfing Australia and Billabong, the Subway® Surf Series was created to fill a competition void which exists at a crucial point in the development of Australia’s leading junior surfers. During the camp, the group of 11 groms honed their skills through surfing and video analysis, competition strategies and coaching at the AIS Surf Skate Training Facility. What sets the camp apart for the groms is the mentoring from HPC coaching staff, Parkinson and Enever, every step of the way. It represents an important link in the ‘pathway to the podium’ developed by Surfing Australia, with surfers now able to progress from the Weet-Bix SurfGroms program, onto the Wahu Surfer Groms Comps, into the Subway® Surf Series, followed by the Original Source Australian Boardriders Battle. The winners of the three non-qualifying events in the Subway® Surf Series across 18 and under and 16 and under girls and boys divisions were given the chance to learn from two of the world’s best at this camp. $1000 was on offer for best male and female performances during the camp and at the end of day three it was Bodhi Leigh-Jones (NSW) and Callum Robinson (NSW) who took home the cash. Surfers in the camp included: Taj Watson....................................... (NSW) Xavier Huxtable................................. (VIC) Ren Hashimoto.................................(QLD) Alysse Cooper.................................. (NSW) Bella Wilson....................................... (VIC) Callum Robinson............................. (NSW) Morgan Cibilic................................. (NSW) Jett Dickinson...................................(QLD) Bodhi Leigh-Jones........................... (NSW) Sophie Fletcher.................................. (VIC) Blake Neka...................................... (NSW) surfingaustralia.com 27