Jul 17
Action and excellent conditions grace day one of The Fantastic Cup Pro Junior presented by Nippy’s
(Victor Harbor, SA – Thursday 17 July 2008): In excellent 1m conditions at Waitpinga today, professional surfing returned to South Australia with a bang as The Fantastic Cup Pro Junior presented by Nippy’s got underway in style.
Attracting the best junior surfers in Australasia, The Fantastic Cup Pro Junior presented by Nippy’s saw some dynamic surfing throughout the opening round of the competition.
Led by Nick Colbey (Suffolk Park, NSW) the action was electric.
Colbey, who dominated his early morning heat, was feeling confident about his chances at The Fantastic Cup Pro Junior presented by Nippy’s.
“There are some really nice waves out there,” Colbey said after accumulating a total heat score of 14.75 (out of a possible 20).
“I haven’t had the best results so far this year, so hopefully I can translate this morning’s confidence and energy into a good result.”
Surfing in South Australia for the first time, Colbey admitted that many other competitor’s were in the same boat, but were more than excited about this contest.
“It’s definitely an adventure to come to this part of the world and surf – especially for the competitors from the east coast, but it’s something I know that all the guys enjoy,” Colbey said.
“It’s really good for surfing within South Australia and Australia for this event to be taking place, hopefully we get some really good waves and make it an awesome event.”
Heading up the local charge in the first round was Ryan Bhoam (Glenelg North, SA) who advanced through to the next round.
For Bhoam, The Fantastic Cup Pro Junior presented by Nippy’s marks an exciting time for surfing within the state.
“I’m just stoked that we get to surf in such a high quality event in South Australia,” he said.
Being the first ASP rated event held in South Australia for over ten years, The Fantastic Cup Pro Junior Presented by Nippy’s sees eighty of Australasia’s finest junior surfers battling it out for AUD $14,000 and crucial ratings points – something which the local surfers have been anxiously anticipating.
“All the local guys have been looking forward to this event for ages, it’s all we’ve been talking and thinking about, so to finally get it underway is huge,” Bhoam continued.
“For all the local South Australian kids it’s hard to really know how well your surfing on a bigger scale because we are so isolated,” he admitted
“By having an (ASP Australasia) Pro Junior event here it gives us an indication of how we are going and allows us to raise the standard of surfing within the state,” he said.
Ty Watson (Currarong, NSW), Alex Rix (Victor Harbor, SA), Ben Webb (Tweed Heads, NSW) and Khai Adams (Victor Harbor, SA) also revelled in the offshore conditions on hand, progressing through to the round of 48.
Tomorrow will see the girls 4-star Fantastic Cup Pro Junior presented by Nippy’s getting underway, which will be followed by the second round of the 5-star boys event.
The Fantastic Cup Pro Junior presented by Nippy’s has also achieved a ZeroC certification for a greenhouse gas emissions audit and for committing to an investment in carbon offsets equal to the audited emissions profile.
Measuring waste generation from the event site and offices, emissions from judge and event official vehicle transport, emissions from generators, electricity used in administrating the event and electricity used at judge and other officials accommodation at event site the audit is being conducted by Adelaide based carbon specialists Balance Carbon Pty Ltd.
For more information please go to www.balancecarbon.com/event.
For live action, all results, information and daily updates on The Fantastic Cup Pro Junior Presented by Nippy’s check out the web cast at www.swellnet.com.au/fantastic_cup <http://www.swellnet.com.au/fantastic_cup> .
The Fantastic Cup Pro Junior is proudly supported by: Fantastic, Nippy’s, The South Australian Tourism Commission, McIroy Hyundai, The Royal Family Hotel, Balance Carbon, The Office for Recreation and Sport, Woolworths, ASP Australasia and Surfing South Australia.
Jul 7
Fantastic Cup Pro Junior 2008 return to South Australia after a ten year hiatus
Fantastic Cup Pro Junior 2008
Surfing South Australia are excited to announce the return of ASP Pro Junior surfing to South Australia, following a ten year hiatus from the calendar.
The Fantastic Cup Pro Junior will be held on the Fleurieu Peninsula between the 17 – 20th July this year and will be the highest rated professional surfing event ever held in the Festival State of South Australia. The event will be a fantastic opportunity for South Australian Junior surfers to mix it in their home state waters with Australasia’s very best 20 year and under professional surfers who are competing on this high quality 15 event National Pro Junior Circuit, something that SA surfers have missed out on over the past decade.
South Australian Pro Junior Surfer Teale Vanner (Kangaroo Island) explained how excited he is to have a pro junior event rolling into his home state.
“This is such a good thing for all of the South Australian surfers to see how good these guys on the ASP Australsia Pro Junior Series actually are; before I’d been to an ASP rated event I just had no idea”.
Teale, who is currently looking for a solid finish to the 2008 ASP Australasia Pro Junior Tour will be hoping that his local wave knowledge and experience in the South Australian waters will help him to come up with a good result. “It will be good for me as I am finally going to have advantage over the east coast crew, however it will be just so good for South Australia to host an ASP Pro Junior event, I had a big smile on my face when I heard the news” Vanner said.
Despite being a smaller surfing state, South Australia has three professional surfers currently flying the SA flag proudly, including Jarrod Howse and Dion Atkinson on the ASP World Qualifying Series and Teale Vanner on the ASP Australasia Pro Junior Series.
Surfing South Australia, Chief Executive Officer Steve Reddy is looking forward to a new era in South Australian surfing and the positive benefits that the Fantastic Cup Pro Junior will bring to the state.
“Surfing South Australia is committed to the development of young male and female surfers aspiring to join the professional ranks, which these days is highly competitive given the outstanding level of competition mainly focused on the eastern seaboard” Reddy explains.
“Through the fantastic support of South Australian companies we are able to bring the best of Australia’s surfing talent pool to Victor Harbor and give our kids invaluable competition experience and the opportunity to gain attention from potential sponsors. The Surfing South Australia team of professional staff backed up by a nationally accredited and highly experienced group of volunteers are thrilled to be in the position to deliver what we hope to be an ongoing feature on the South Australian Calendar”.
The ASP Australasia rated ‘Fantastic Cup Pro Junior Boys - 5 Star’ (AUD$10 000) and ‘Fantastic Cup Pro Junior Girls - 4 Star’ (AUD$4 000) will kick off from July 17th 2008. Surfing Australia’s website, www.surfingaustralia.com will update all the information relating to this event as it approaches.
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