TONIC | welcome
ceo’s welcome
CHAIRMAN’S Welcome
Welcome to the winter 2014 issue of Tonic magazine.
You could easily be forgiven for thinking it’s still
the middle of autumn. Consistent swells, warm and
clear water and warmer than usual weather has
kept people flocking to our beaches over recent
months. Where else in the world would you rather
live than Queensland?
In my role as forecaster and reporter for Coastalwatch I have to keep a close eye on surf conditions daily, and the past couple of months have
been nothing short of magnificent. A steady flow
of medium size swells, favourable winds and great
banks has been on offer to surfers in Queensland
over recent months.
It’s been action aplenty on the competition front and in this
issue; we wrap up the remaining 3 events of the Chiko Queensland Championship Circuit (QCC) which concluded at Burleigh
recently. Overall victory went to Corey Ziems of Currumbin who
was closely followed by Coolangatta’s Nick Vasicek, with both
athletes fighting hard to make safe their position to compete in
the 2015 Quiksilver Pro Trials. A special mention must go to Tim
MacDonald who won his first QCC in the dying moments of the
Chiko Burleigh Classic, after placing second a staggering six
times.
Let’s hope the trend continues through winter as Queensland’s
Boardriders Clubs battle for supremacy in the World Surfaris
Coast of Origin Interclub Surfing Series. This year’s series has
received an extra boost with Samoa Tourism Authority coming
on board as a presenting sponsor, bolstering the prize pool to a
whopping $20,000. World Surfaris has also teamed up with Salani Surf Resort in Samoa to offer 2 lucky surfers the trip of a lifetime to Samoa. To be eligible to win this trip, you simply have
to be a member of an affiliated Surfing Queensland Boardriders
Club. World Surfaris is also set to make some exciting announcements surrounding special travel offers for affiliated Surfing
Queensland Boardrider’s Club members.
The recent HIF Masters and Women’s state titles series concluded
in pristine conditions at Coolum beach on the Sunshine Coast
with some outstanding performances in a number of divisions.
Sunshine Coast surfer Sophie McCulloch secured the Roxy Pro
Trials position by narrowly defeating Coolangatta’s Brodie Doyle
in the overall ratings. A full wrap up of the series can be found
inside including the winners of the HIF ‘Wave of the Weekend’
prizewinners.
The Surfing Queensland events team have also travelled to the
Capricorn and Discovery coasts and delivered events at Agnes
Water and Yeppoon. The trip was once again very successful and
Sports Development Officer David Lammin was able to deliver a Level 1 Coaching course for the region during the trip, along
with a spot of fishing.
With the Queensland Longboard and Bodyboarding Titles having been run and won, all Queensland athletes are busy preparing themselves for an assault on the rest of the nation in the
upcoming Australian Surf Festival which takes place in Coffs
Harbour in August. I would like to take this opportunity to wish
all of our representative teams the best of luck – let’s hope we
can claw back some state pride following our recent defeat in the
State of Origin!
Enjoy the read.
Surfing Queensland have also teamed up with Telstra and placed
20 Samsung Galaxy tablets in the hands of selected Boardriders
Clubs. Telstra have also thrown in 6 months of coverage with the
devices allowing our affiliated club network to have access to the
best device technology and coverage on offer.
The Immerse SUP & Paddle Festival is something I always look
forward to and this year’s event looks set to be the best yet. The
three day festival is a celebration of ocean craft with a marathon
race, short course race and SUP surfing taking place around picturesque Currumbin Alley. Keep a close eye on this event as Surfing Queensland releases details in the coming week.
The Jallum Jarjum ‘Fish Kids’ Indigenous Surfing Program has
kicked off for 2014 with 10 students from Palm Beach Currumbin
High School (PBC) sitting their Level 1 Coaching accreditation course. Four surfing participation day’s will take place later this year allowing all coaches to complete mentor hours allowing Indigenous participants to coach surfing with a nationally
accredited qualification.
I hope you enjoy this issue of Tonic.
John Charlton
Chairman, Surfing Queensland
Scott Gillies
Chief Executive Officer, Surfing Queensland
Partnered with
surfingqueensland.com.au winter Issue – 3