Local surfers to battle it out in national video contest

JUNIOR surfers from Victoria are set to throw their hat in the ring and battle for national honours in the 2023 YETI Australian Junior Online Surf Championships.

From January 1 until February 28, local surfers from the Surf Coast and Bellarine Peninsula will apply their YETI stickers to the nose of their surfboard and film their best wave and try to clinch divisional titles against the best in the country.

In the past, the event has existed as a COVID substitute for the physical Australian Junior Surfing Titles, however, will coexist as another national level medium in 2023.

Surfing Victoria High Performance Coaching Director Cahill Bell-Warren said he looked forward to seeing what local surfers would put together for the online contest.

“The event in 2023 is technically bigger than previous iterations because it is open to anyone who wants to compete rather than just qualified state team members,” Bell-Warren said.

“This year it is a single round over two months, so there is less actual work on each athlete.

“Victorians have done well in the past, we’ve been lucky to have some good swells in the event window and Willis Droomer, Ellie Harrison and Sara Hickson have all won their respective divisions in the past.

“As a coach, you’d love to think that your surfers are challenging themselves hard every single session.

“With this format, it means that once a benchmark clip has been locked in, any performances underneath it aren’t good enough and the only way to improve your entry is to go harder and faster which leads to growth for sure.”

 

Bell-Warren said that while the waves haven’t been favourable thus far, Victorian children will have plenty of time to pick swells and venues through this time to source their entries.

After entries close on February 28, a professional panel of judges will score the rides and the winner will emerge from the field.

Winners are set to be announced by Surfing Australia on Monday, March 6 at 10am.

To learn more, go to https://australianjunioronlinesurfchampionships.com/