Billabong Junior Series

St Michaels-on-Sea, KZN South Africa
24 - 25 February 2007

SA’s top young surf stars head for Billabong Junior Series at St Mikes

Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 21 February, 2007 : - - More than 130 of the country’s top surfers aged 20 and younger will be taking to the waves at St Michaels-on-Sea on the KZN South coast from Thursday to Sunday for the first of five events in the R220 000 Billabong Junior Series.

Competitors from virtually every beach on the coastline will be determined to start their challenge for the coveted series titles in Pro Junior (U20) boys and girls and U16, U14 and 12 boy’s divisions with a strong result in the classic right-hand point break waves that St Mikes is famous for.

The stakes are sky-high with over R30 000 in prize-money distributed to the top finishers on Sunday and the highest ranked Pro Junior boys and girl at the end of the series receiving priceless invitations to the Billabong ASP World Junior Championships in Australia, the event Durban’s Jordy Smith won in January.

Smith, the 2006 event champ at St Mikes, celebrated his 19th birthday 10 days ago and was named SA Surfer of the Year last Saturday, but will miss this event as he will be crowned the 2006 World Junior Champion at the ASP Awards Banquet in Australia on Sunday.

Durban North’s Brandon Jackson, no stranger to the powerful St Mikes waves after placing third last year and runner-up in 2005, heads a stellar line-up of Pro Junior boys. Rudy Palmboom Jnr (Bluff) and Brett Shearer (Kommetjie), the second and third seeds, have just returned from campaigning on the super competitive Australian Pro Junior circuit while fourth seed Brandon Roberts (Sun Valley, CT) spent several months competing in World Tour events in the USA towards the end of last year.

A new event and series champion will be crowned in the girl’s division where Nikita Robb (East London), now a full-time pro surfer, takes on perennial rivals and fellow SA junior teammates Tarryn Chudleigh (Kommetjie) and Chantelle Rautenbach (Melkbosstrand).

And the future of SA’s female surfing talent will be trying their best to dislodge the top seeds with the likes of Sarah Baum (Athlone Park, KZN), Alice McGregor (East London), Bianca Buitendag (George) and Tanika Hoffman all in line to reach Sunday’s final.

Shaun Joubert is amped to better his 2006 result of fifth at St Mikes, the only event he didn’t qualify for the final on his way to the U16 series title. The 15 year-old from Mossel Bay will be hard pressed by Billabong teammates Dale Staples (St Francis Bay) and Matt Bromley (Kommetjie) while Umdloti’s Blake Freeguard’s local knowledge of the break is a major advantage.

U14 Series champ Michael February (Kommetjie) has to contend with a red-hot crew of last year’s U12 stars if he is to better his fourth place at St Mikes this weekend. The likes of Steven Sawyer (J-Bay), Mikey Venter (Warner Beach) and Jarred Veldhuis (Kommetjie) have talent to burn while Daniel Wilson (Tokai) has shown spectacular improvement.

Kommetjie’s Max Armstrong starts as both the defending event and series U12 champ with last year’s event runner-up Joshua Smit likely to provide the stiffest opposition. However, the grommets develop so fast that there are a number of dark horses who could spring a surprise including Nicholas Notten (St James, CT), the J-Bay duo of Keane Hansen and Dylan Lightfoot and St Mikes local Cameron Pereira.

Each event in the 11th annual Billabong Junior Series also features a spectacular Von Zipper Air Show where the winner pockets R1 800 for performing the best cutting edge aerial manoeuvre, the Best Kustomised Manoeuvre awards for the top local boy and girl and the Zigzag ‘Blowing Up’ award of R1 000 along with its unique replica hand grenade trophy.

Ratings points are awarded to competitors based on the position they achieve in each event and the series titles in the five divisions go to those accumulating the highest total from their best four results after the fifth and final event in Jeffreys Bay in September.

The R35 000 series prize-pool, half of which is provided by First National Bank (FNB) in the form of six-month fixed deposit accounts, is shared by the top three finishers in each division. FNB also cover the travel costs of four boys and top girl invited to compete in the Billabong World Junior Championships in Australia annually.

The Billabong Junior Series is sanctioned by Surfing South Africa (SSA), the national controlling body for the sport in this country, and proudly supported by First National Bank, Palmers, Kustom, Von Zipper, Red Bull and Silver Bullet Productions

After St Mikes (February 22-25), the 2007 series visits Durban (March 29-April 1), Cape Town (May 17-20) and Victoria Bay in the Southern Cape (August 9-12) before wrapping up in the legendary surf Mecca of Jeffreys Bay (September 21-24) where the 11th annual series champions will be crowned.

Entry forms and further information on the Billabong Junior Series, including profiles of the top performers, can be found on the website.

www.billabong.com/africa

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