Rip Curl Pro caddies ready to help

Six of the Surf Coast’s brightest young surfers have swapped their wetsuits for yellow spray jackets as members of the Bonsoy Board Caddie Program.

Torquay Boardriders Club (TBC) juniors Ava Crosky, Anise Pruvot, Liam Thomson, Ivy Burns, Charlie Chisholm, and Cedar Davie are now rubbing shoulders with the world’s best surfers as caddies in this year’s Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach event.

Torquay local Ivy Burns, 15, was one of the local surfers to be picked this year.

She said she was a little nervous about handling the large responsibility but was equally excited to hang out with some of her idols and the world’s best surfing talent.

“I feel like I’m a bit scared I might drop a board even though I never really do that, but no it’s all good fun really.

“I’m really excited to see Molly Picklum and possibly meet her, we’re all really excited to see all these athletes surf here at Bells.

“I actually grew up right around Bells and when my dad moved down to Torquay, he really wanted to learn to surf, so he taught my older siblings and I, and we’ve been surfing these waves really since we could all walk.”

The Rip Curl Pro’s board caddies has been an ongoing TBC initiative for over 15 years, providing an opportunity for local youngsters to meet some of their surfing heroes after being selected by the club.

The program has helped inspire current tour surfers to follow their dreams, like India Robinson, who was only 10 years old when she carried surf boards for some of her idols 13 years ago.

Each caddy will assist tour athletes by carrying and caring for their boards over the 10-day waiting period, playing a major role in the athletes’ performances at Bells Beach.

Fellow TBC junior Charlie Chisholm is a Rip Curl Pro caddy for a second year in a row, and said he had a blast at last year’s event.

“I loved it last year, I got to meet a lot of pros, see what they do before competing, and where they hang out.

“It’s pretty rare you drop a board, probably one every 100, but yeah I’m super excited to meet some of the pros like Ethan Ewing and Griffin Colapinto.”

Bonsoy, the official milk of the World Surfing League (WSL), first rebranded the caddy program to the Bonsoy Board Caddy program in 2022.

This year will mark the third year in a row Bonsoy has been the WSL’s presenting partner for the program and the event.