Day 1 SA Junior Champs

Nice lil waves at Point for the lighties to get their feet into the wax and warm up. Cos the charts show that Friday & Saturday could see some serious swell. Mini-groms on maxi-waves. Bring it on.

Only the boys were in the water today. In the u17's Matt McGillivray, Tim and Jerry got straight through to Rd 3, with Paul & Peter still having to fight through Rd 2 heats to stay in the hunt. The u15's saw Jose, Jono, Rewaldo, & Alex making it into Rd 3, and Matt McLou having to get through his Rd 2 heat still to continue onwards in the comp. In the u13's Angelo & Arnold are into Rd 3, with Jarrick and Ryan facing a Rd 2 heat.

Official wrap of Day 1:

Classic conditions with sunshine, light offshore winds and small but consistent and very rippable waves greeted the cream of South Africa’s junior surfers for the opening day of the Hurley SA Junior Champs at the Lower Point in Jeffreys Bay today (Wednesday).

Last night’s opening ceremony saw competitors in nine provincial teams from everywhere on the SA coastline pack the marquee on the beach where Hurley SA head honcho Jevon le Roux told them ‘You’re the actors, and this is your stage.’ He then handed over a cheque for R50 000 to the Supertubes Surfing Foundation in appreciation of the great work they do in keeping the beaches of the Mecca of SA surfing pristine.

Dawn saw the line-up packed with frothing groms and the contest swung into motion with the opening round of the Under 17, U15 and U13 Boys taking to the surf and strutting their stuff on the long walls of one metre waves peeling down the point.

KwaZulu-Natal Central (KZNC) U17 second seed Bryce Burness had the honour of catching the first wave of 2013 edition of the country’s premier event for surfers aged 17-and-under.Bryce, the son of former ASP World No. 7 Mike Burness, fittingly went on to clinch the heat victory and advance directly to Round 3 along with runner-up Jerry van Wyk, the top seed for the hosts and defending team champions, Eastern Province (EP).

One fiercely contested heat after another was fought out with most coming down to the wire and the lead changing hands in the dying seconds as the competitors milked every bit of power in the waves with combinations of high performance manoeuvres.

Western Province (WP) top seed Max Armstrong displayed a flash of brilliance with a perfectly executed air-reverse that had the crowds on the dunes in the natural amphitheatre lining the point cheering, to take the early lead in the charge for the Red Bull Best Air award and the R5 000 that goes with it.

While the natural footers had the advantage of facing the wave during their rides, several of the top performances came from goofy-footers (ride with right foot in front) and Jordy Maree (WP), Nthando Msibi (KZNC) and Steff Burrows were particularly impressive with their vertical backhand attacks and smooth transitions between manoeuvres.

J-Bay local Matt McGillivray (EP), the 2012 U15 champ and Surfer of the Contest, showed he is going to be hard to beat in his first year in the U17 division with his lightening fast repertoire and intimate knowledge of the best waves to catch and ride.

The tempo didn’t slow down as the U15’s took over and EP’s Jose Faulkner and Rewaldo Abersalie, Boland’s Tristan Lev and Adin Masencamp, WP’s Jordy Maree and Jake Elkington, Luke Malherbe (Border) and Gabriel Fernandez from the SA Development Academy posted great heat winning performances.

Angelo Faulkner (EP), Koby Oberholzer (KZNC), Calvin Goor (Dev Academy) and Julian Zens (Bol) were the standouts in the U13 division as the first day of proceedings drew to a close.

The Hurley SA Junior Champs runs until Sunday 29 September when the provincial team accumulating the most points is awarded the coveted Freedom Trophy and the individual winners in the U17, U15 and U13 Boy’s and Girl’s divisions are crowned the 2013 South African surfing champions.

There is also an array of lucrative special awards at stake, including:

• Hurley Surfer of the Contest presented by All Aboard Travel – R20 000 travel voucher to Bali 
• Red Bull Best Air – R5 000 
• Oakley Highest Heat Score – R3 000 
• Zigzag Blowing Up Award – R3 000 
• Skullcandy Team Spirit Award – R3 000
• Van's Tarp Surf Champ – Product from Vans Off The Wall

All the action and behind the scenes highlights at the 2013 Hurley SA Junior Champs can be followed on the following digital platforms:

• Hurley FB: https://www.facebook.com/Hurley.ZA
• Hurley Twitter: https://twitter.com/HurleyZA
• SA Junior Champs: https://twitter.com/sajuniorchamps (Results Only)
• Twitter account – @HurleyZA and the hashtag #sajuniorchamps
• Hurley Instagram: http://instagram.com/hurley_za
• Daily blogs, interviews, video uploads, images and results will be posted onwww.sajuniorchamps.co.za and results can also be found at www.surfingsouthafrica.co.za