The Rip Curl New Zealand Junior Surfing Team was announced today with twelve of the nations top surfers selected to compete in New Zealand waters at the 2010 Quiksilver ISA World Junior Surfing Championships. The event is being held at Piha Beach from the 20th – 28th January next year.

The team sees six new faces enter the mix for the first time at the event. However the new talent brings about an air of confidence that could, with the advantage of home turf, see the team produce their best ever result at the event.

The team will be led by the Under 18 Boys. Gisborne’s Johnny Hicks will compete at the event for the fifth year in a row in 2010. The ultra talented goofy foot surfer will want to go out on a high note as he moves on to the next level of his career. His powerful surfing will suit the Piha waves and combined with his three comrades in the Under 18 Boys Division, the Rip Curl New Zealand team will expect big things from their senior surfers.

Joining Hicks will be Alex Dive (Mnt) and Damien Norman (NSW, Aus), two surfers that have represented New Zealand for the past two years. JC Susan is the newcomer to the team having recently settled in New Zealand from his South African homeland. Since his arrival, Susan has made waves throughout New Zealand winning events and impressing everyone with his surfing and approach to the waves.

Two new faces emerge in the girls team with Sarah Mason and Grace Spiers getting their first international caps. Fourteen year old Australian based Sarah Mason has been turning heads since well before her teens. Mason, the younger sister of top New Zealand and WQS surfer Airini Mason, has already tasted the big time with invites into the Roxy Pro trials on the Gold Coast of Australia where she astonished massive crowds with her aggressive surfing.

Spiers has also turned heads as a youngster, becoming the youngest surfer to ever win a national open women’s event at the age of 14. For the past two years Spiers has been sidelined with a back injury. However, Spiers returned to the water early this year and since then has been almost unstoppable winning three of four events and placing runner up in the other.

The two newcomers join Alexis Poulter (Rag), a three-time New Zealand representative and Jayda Martin – Fitzharris (Gis) who was New Zealand’s highest placed female, placing 16th at that same event earlier this year.

Seasoned Under 16 Boys Division campaigners Tane Wallis (Piha) and Ben Poulter (Rag) are joined by another two youngsters in Adam Grimson (Gis) and Elliot Paerata – Reid (Piha). The latter is the youngest of the team at 13 years of age.

“There was an impressive pool of talent to choose from across all three divisions this year” commented National Selector Ben Kennings. “This team is be brimming with talent and we are confident that by the time the event roles into New Zealand these twelve surfers will represent their country with everything they have got in front of massive home crowds” added Kennings.

The national squad attended a selection camp in September and the team will attend a further training camp on the 28th of November to fine tune their surfing before the event.

The 2010 Rip Curl New Zealand Junior Surfing Team is as follows:

Under 18 Boys
Alex Dive (Mnt)
Damien Norman (NSW, Aus)
JC Susan (Mnt)
Johnny Hicks (Gis)

Reserve – Blake Myers (WGM)

Under 18 Girls
Alexis Poulter (Rag)
Grace Spiers (Gis)
Jayda Martin-Fitzharris (Gis)
Sarah Mason (Qld, Aus)

Reserve – Rosa Thompson (Auck)

Under 16 Boys
Adam Grimson (Gis)
Ben Poulter (Rag)
Elliot Paerata – Reid (Piha)
Tane Wallis (Piha)

Reserve – Paul Moretti (Mimiwhangata)

The World Junior Surfing Championships is an annual event having been held since 2003. New Zealand has competed at the event since its inception as well as competing at the World Grommet Titles as it was formerly known since 1989. New Zealand has been one of the top n! ations at each event with Jay Quinn (Gis) securing New Zealand’s first World Championship in the Under 18 Men’s division in 2001. In 2009 the New Zealand team placed seventh at the event.

Prior to the main event the team will meet South Africa to contest the annually run ‘SANZ’ Trophy held between the two teams. South Africa currently hold the trophy after winning it in 2009. The two teams will fine tune their competitive strategies only days out from the main event. The unique trophy that is up for grabs is made out of a solid pounamu base with paua inlay and a surfboard made out of South African hardwood.

The event will be broadcast live over the net via www.isasurf.org. Media releases on the team’s performance will be distributed daily throughout the event. For further information regarding the New Zealand Junior Surfing Team please contact Ben Kennings at Surfing New Zealand 07 8250018 07 8250018 , 0212278732 or email benkennings@surfingnz.co.nz.

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