Gisborne clubs will have a strong crop of young surf lifesavers in the ocean and on the beach at Ōhope on Saturday for the Eastern Regional Junior Championships.
Dawson Building Midway has the biggest Gisborne contingent of 20 Under-14 competitors.
“They’ve all been training really hard over summer with our newly established school holiday programme,” said Sophie Petro, Midway’s lead junior coach.
“The Under-11 boys are a strong age group, with seven athletes going very well. I’m excited to see them all have lots of fun, race their hardest and have an opportunity to race against other regions.”
Midway’s juniors performed extremely well at the recent Gisborne junior champs, amassing 550 points across the competition - 116 ahead of second-placed Wainui.
Riversun Wainui will have nine youngsters in action.
“Mostly the younger members of the squad will be there,” head coach Dion Williams said.
“In the Under-12s, Sanya Lawler, and Brooke and Alyvia Williams will be joined by Under-11s Indy Williams and Hannah Hudson to make up team races like board relays and Cameron [relay].
“They love having a race with their huge group of friends from the north of the region, and could go really well.
“Zoe Keepa and Natalie Hudson race in the Under-13s and have been training amazingly well lately, [which will] hopefully be rewarded with some good results.
“Xavier Booker and Eli McArthur are young but strong on the craft. They both love the paddleboards and swimming, and both are great racers, so could very well get a win if things go their way.
“ERCs is a great competition and is run in a different area of the region each year. It’s very cool to go to different beaches and race. We are looking forward to Ōhope. "
Eight competitors will fly the Kaiaponi Farms Waikanae flag.
“It’s a small but pumped-up crew,” Waikanae junior coach Edan Wilson said.
“We are stoked to be heading back to this quality event with a team after having missed it for the last couple of years.
“This event is pretty special to me as it was the first out-of-town competition I did as a junior. It was at Ōhope Beach, too.
“I remember we all had so much fun and it really lit the spark for us to keep going to surf events, creating so many really special memories. I’m excited to head back there as a coach with my awesome little team of groms.
“We’ve got a mix of Under-11s to Under-14 kids looking to get valuable experience before heading to the Oceans (junior nationals) in three weeks.”
