Junior Surfers Shine at South Shields Contest

Fantastic Community Surf Competition Held at South Shields Beach in the North East of England

After three years of trying to hold a junior surf series event in the North East of England it was fantastic to be greeted by a beautiful sunrise at just after 7:00 AM at South Shields beach on Sunday 6th of October.

The third stop on the successful and popular Surfing England Junior Surf Series showcasing under 12 and under 14 categories. saw us partner with Shields Boardriders who truly stepped up to the mark with fantastic organizational skills and a great team of keen and willing helpers. We couldn’t of asked for better hosts.

The rain passed through and wind calmed just in time for the heats get underway at 9:00 AM with the Under 12 boys first to hit the water. Due to the travel distance for many competitors and the fact that there hasn’t been a previous contest in this series in the Northeast before, numbers were lower than usual. However, it was still a fantastic field with surfers from Ireland, Scotland, Wales, and of course, England.

The heats ran smoothly with some great surfing in tricky conditions, especially as we reached the low tide bank. All the youngsters displayed a fantastic attitude, supported by a keen team of crew around the contest site and on the shoreline itself.

With regards to the results themselves in the under 12 girls in a very close final Arabella Peres took her first win in a series just ahead of Betsie Reay, with Mila Barber and Willow Craxton taking 3rd and 4th respectively

The most popular category was the under 12 boys and in the final there was a really dominant display from Scotland’s Kai Cruickshank to take the win with Cassius Woudberg pushing him all the way, 9 year old Monty Cole did fantastic in 3rd and great to see local boy Myles Ireland-Craig entering his first ever junior series and getting 4th.

Whilst the least athletes in this division the under 14 girls final did have three quality athletes from three different countries and on this occasion Scotland’s Callie Cruickshank took the win ahead of Ireland’s Isabella O’Reilly and Englands Coco Arthur came third on the back of her win at the Wave (Bristol) contest on Thursday night

In the final heat of the day Bude’s Brody Reay took the title (his first one) ahead of Jack Rocky Mason, Finley Mollon and Scarborough local Josh Mason, again a really hotly contested heat as the tide began to push in, and by this time the south easterly wind had strengthened.

It was great for the presentation that the sun came out, and Phil Williams (Surfing England Junior Surf Series Lead) thanks everybody for the efforts to get there, and in particular for the Shields Boardriders surf club for hosting such a fantastic event and pulling in a number of other volunteers from other surf clubs in the area. Aaron from Shields Boarders presented some great prizes and as always a huge thank you to sponsors Animal UK and RYD for their generous donations to make this series possible.

It was a fantastic event, bringing the community together, fostering new friendships, and providing lots of fun.

This exciting stop on our fantastic series of events has added another new destination to our list. A huge thank you to all the parents and guardians who took the time to bring the youngsters to the North East of England.

Next up for the series is the rescheduled date for St Ives hosted by Saints Boardriders which is scheduled  to run on Saturday 19th October.

Finals Day: Traditionally held at the Wave, this year we’re mixing it up. After discussions with the Surfing England junior coaching team and some surfers, we’ve decided to hold a focused and informative day in Newquay. This will include training on priority heats and a mini-comp with priority rules in place.

We are really excited for this development and as well as the surfers invited who have won their respective categories we will be joined by priority judge Kerry Powell, as well as junior team manager and coach Jamie Wride and Beau Bromham

We will be based at Fistral beach in the RNLI building and the date will be in the half term holidays Tues October 29th, more details will be sent out shortly to those that have already qualified.

 

For any further questions, please don’t hesitate to contact Phil at juniorseries@surfingengland.org

Results

Under 12 Girls

1 Arabella Peres 2 Betsie Reay 3 Mila Barber 4 Willow Craxton

Under 12 Boys

1 Kai Cruickshank 2 Cassius Woudberg 3 Monty Cole 4 Myles Ireland-Craig

Under 14 Girls

1 Callie Cruickshank 2 Isabella O’Reilly 3 Coco Arthur

Under 14 Boys

1 Brody Reay 2 Jack Rocky Mason 3 Finley Mollon 4 Josh Mason

Already a member?

Sign in to access your discount codes, insurance and membership info

Log into my Surfing England account
Join Today