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“I’d watch my heroes come to town every July and always looked up to them and how well they surfed.<\/p>\n
“Even as a young kid, I knew that this event was the one to win.<\/p>\n
“When I won the 16 Boys division in 2017, I felt like I reached one of the goals that I’d set for myself and it really helped prepare me for the competitive life on the Pro Juniors and the Qualifying Series.<\/p>\n
“The whole event really is an icon in Australian surfing.”<\/p>\n
Local surfers Max McGillivray and Leihani Zoric won the under-16 and under-14 age divisions last year.<\/p>\n
Teenagers Ocea Curtis and Juniper Harper also had the chance to compete in the pro junior women’s division.<\/p>\n
Curtis represented Australia in the under-16s division at the ISA World Junior Championships in El Salvador and was the North Coast Academy of Sport athlete of the year in 2024.<\/p>\n
The Oz Grom Open runs similar to a WSL tour event with a five-person judging panel, computer judging system and priority board, athlete’s area, spectator area and live broadcast.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A FRESH look with strong pro junior divisions will see some of the best young surfers from around the country converge at Lennox Head for the Soundboks Oz Grom Open in July. Soundboks has come on board as the new naming rights sponsor, with the event now in its 14th year. Registrations filled up this […]<\/p>\n