Boardriding clubs from Bondi to Ulladulla will be heading to North Cronulla Beach this weekend for the Triple Bull Cronulla Gromtag contest.
The third and final qualifying event of the inaugural Gromtag Australian Series will see 14 teams vying for a top four finish to advance to the Australian Championships.
With five surfers representing each boardriding club, Gromtag offers a rare opportunity for under-18s to represent their local club. Cronulla Sharks, Elouera and Bondi Boardriders have entered multiple teams spreading the opportunity among their junior ranks to represent their clubs.
Fourteen-year-old Jarvis Earle is looking forward to competing for Elouera Boardriders.
“It’s great to represent your local boardriding club especially since we are competing in Cronulla. I hope everyone comes to watch and support us,” Jarvis said.
“You really feel the pressure in tag team events as you only have a short amount of time to get a few good scores. Usually it’s a race at the end to run back up the beach to finish and it’s always fun cheering on your mates.”
With so many talented junior surfers in the region and the popular tag team format being used anything is possible when it comes to performing on the day.
The series so far has produced some interesting results. Curl Curl Boardriders upset the more fancied teams to win the Northern Beaches Gromtag, while on the Gold Coast Burleigh Heads Boardriders battled with event favorites Snappers Rocks Surfriders right to the very end before Snapper finished on top.
The combination of every wave counting and time management really builds pressure which some surfers thrive on.
Boardriding clubs competing at North Cronulla include Ulladulla, Werri Beach, Jones Beach, Southbridge, Woonona, Sandon Point, Scarborough, Cronulla Sharks, Elouera, Bronte and Bondi.
Competition will begin at 8am on Saturday with the final scheduled for 3pm which will be followed by the presentation at Beach Burrito Cronulla.
For the Triple Bull Cronulla Gromtag heat draw, highlight video and photos visit facebook.com/gromtagaustralianseries.
The 2018 Gromtag Australian Series is supported by Beach Burrito Company, the Perfect Wave Travel, Triple Bull Surf Cronulla, Joistik Surfboards, Bose, Wicks Surf and Swellnet.
Surprise swell for Cronulla surfers this week with a couple of random pulses keeping the stoke alive on the beaches.
The water temp has dropped and a southerly has just blown through and given us a wake up but there has been a few offshores to keep everyone happy.
The prediction was for today and Tuesday to be 1-2 ft but Wanda had some cranky 3-4 footers yesterday but its not happening this morning .
There is another swell due on Thursday that could hit the 6ft mark ,its from the south with the wind also tending that way-then its due to drop again to a Saturday low of 1-2 ft for the junior tag team contest.
Woolworths Australian Junior Surfing Team Under 16 Boys competitor Grayson Hinrichs has won a gold medal at the VISSLA ISA World Junior Surfing Championship at Huntington Beach, California.
Hinrichs and American Kade Matson were in a league of their own in the final with the young Aussie just getting the better of the hometown competitor, finishing with a 16.1 point heat total , just 0.73 points ahead of the local lad.
Surfing Australia has worked hard to reboot the performance culture of the team in 2018 and big kudos go to co-coaches Mike McAuliffe, Kate Wilcomes and manager Blair Semple for an outstanding effort behind the scenes.
A big congratulation also needs to go out to coach Blake Thornton who has played a major role in Grayson Hinrich’s success.
Round five finishes for Under 18 division competitors Cyrus Cox, Piper Harrison and Under 16 division surfer Arch Whiteman helped seal a team’s bronze medal for Team Australia who didnt make the top four in the teams Aloha Cup.
Team Japan made junior surfing history and earned their first-ever Team Gold Medal-look out for the Olympics in 2020.
Finally, some of the world’s most promising male surfers will join some of the world’s best females as part of this weekends upcoming 2018 Port Stephens Toyota Pro.
The elite World Surf League (WSL) Qualifying Series (QS) competitions – which will run from the 8 – 13 November – will comprise of Women’s 6,000 and Men’s 1,000 rated divisions and provide the women with a healthy boost of points to finish their 2018 QS campaigns.
