Team News

Catching up with ASP Pro Junior Standout Travis Beckmann

Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 5 October, 2008 : - - Huntington Beach, Ca - - Travis Beckmann is one of the most consistent surfers on the ASP North America Pro Junior series. The regular-footer from Vero Beach, Florida fought through an injury plagued first half of the ASP North America Pro Junior series and is still sitting in the No. 3 position overall.

With only one event remaining on the series, Beckmann is in excellent position to qualify for the Billabong ASP World Junior Championships held in Narrabeen, Australia next January.

Beckmann was a few points shy of a Billabong ASP World Junior championships berth last year and this year the young Floridian is dedicated to the cause of earning his shot to compete against the world’s finest Junior surfers.

He spent the latter half of last year and the first half of this year traveling on his own dime and the explosive surfer has managed to maintain a fierce competitive edge despite his lack of sponsorship, realizing that sponsorship was not a necessity for his success on the ASP Pro Junior Series.

“I was in the same situation last year and I ended up missing Australia by 15 points in Santa Cruz,” Beckmann said. “So, I definitely know that anything can still happen. But when that happened I learned you don’t need a sponsor to be a good, consistent surfer. So that took off a lot of pressure for this year.”

Despite Beckmann’s No. 3 rating, his year has not gone to plan. While training for a series of events in California Beckmann injured his back, severely hindering his chances for a successful year on the ASP North America Pro Junior Series.

“Half way threw this year I injured my back and ended up herniating a disc,” Beckmann said. “I went to Nicaragua in May to get ready for Newport and Huntington. I was playing soccer and stretched my right leg out really far and ended up throwing the lower right part of my back out. I kept surfing on it in Nicaragua and went right into the Newport contest and kept aggravating it. I Got an MRI after the US Open and found out that I herniated my L5, S1.

The committed competitor has spent the remainder of the year focusing on a full recovery. Beckmann has built a dedicated work out plan to recover from his injury and focuses his time out of the water on strengthening his core and staying flexible.

“I have been doing a whole lot of core workouts on my yoga ball,” Beckmann said. “The stronger your abs are the better your back is protected from having another injury happen in the future. I also stretch for at least an hour a day to keep my muscles loose and limber.”

Beckmann competed in both the Arnette Pro Junior in Newport and the Nike Pier Pressure in Huntington and posted back-to-back seventh place results despite the injury. The Semifinals berths were enough to hold down a top three position amongst his competitors.

“Some how I was able to make the semis in Newport and Huntington Beach,” Beckmann said. “I really got lucky in the middle of the year in my opinion.”

Beckmann is gearing up for the last contest of year, the Oakley Pro Junior held in Santa Cruz, CA, and is focusing on solidifying his seed amongst the junior’s finest. The young surfer views the Billabong ASP World Junior Championships as an integral step in his professional surfing career and feels that qualification for the contest in Narrabeen would give him a chance to surf against the future of competitive surfing.

“Qualifying for Worlds is important because you’re up against the kids that have a good chance to make a push for the World Tour,” Beckmann said. “To show what you can do on that kind of stage is a great way to put yourself on the map.”

Since 2008 is Beckmann’s last year competing on the ASP North America Pro Junior Series he will change his focus for the 2009 season. The explosive talent is looking to be ive on his ASP WQS entries while spending his down time traveling.

“I want to get back to the roots of surfing great waves in amazing places since I haven’t gotten the chance to do that in a good while,” Beckmann said. “As for next year’s ‘QS schedule, I am going to choose a couple of events here and there to keep a decent seed for the following year.”

Check out the Oakley Pro Junior event to see if Beckmann Qualifies for the ASP Billabong World Junior Championships. The ASP Grade-3 event will be held in Santa Cruz, CA from October 21-26, 2008.

www.aspworldtour.com 
www.aspnorthamerica.org

What's your take on this?
Post your thoughts: SV Forum

New Survey: Map Surfing’s future 

More USA/Cen Amer. surfing news available here
Check the latest West Coast Surf Reports and Forecasts

New! B2B News ASBE-Surf   |  Receive News-Alerts

ASP World Tour
Dave Prodan
dave@aspworldtour.com

ASP North America
Bobby Shadley
bobby@aspworldtour.com

ASP North America Updates - Surfersvillage