Words: Craig Jarvis
Jeffreys Bay - The best junior surfers in the country will be congregating in JBay, more specifically at the break called Magnatubes, for the first event in the 2015 Billabong Junior Series presented by BOS. The contest, by far the biggest and most prestigious junior event in the country, takes place over three days during a five-day waiting period of 13 - 17 July. The junior contest forms part of the JBay Winterfest - www.jbaywinterfest.com - a multi-sport and music festival that takes place in JBay from 8-19th July.
Photo credit: Kody McGregor
"We are stoked to have the Billabong Junior event included in the JBay Winterfest," said JBay Winterfest organiser Koffie Jacobs. "Magnatubes is a world class venue for a surf tournament, and we wish Billabong success with their event."
The tournament has both Pro Surf Tour (PST) and World Surf League (WSL) Pro Junior rated events, with valuable points as well as prize money up for grabs.The contest also has a number of international surfers entered, with a crew of overseas Billabong Junior surfers signed up for the contest. Ethan Ewing (Australia), Griffen Colapinto (USA), Seth Moniz (Hawai), Shaun Manners (Australia), Eithan Osborne (USA), and Liam O'Brien from Australia. These surfers are all in South Africa for a Billabong Bloodlines project, and have all entered into the event. Further, amongst the competitors we have 5 surfers in the current Surfer Mag Top 100 in Sebastien Williams at nr 6, and Ethan Osborne at nr 9 in the groms, as well as Seth Moniz (13), Griffen Colapinto (25) and Dylan Lightfoot (54)
"Billabong have been such a pillar of strength for Pro Junior surfing in South Africa over many years," said WSL Africa's Colin Fitch. "It will be fantastic to see our top local Pro Juniors up against some international Pro Juniors who have made the trip to this event. I am convinced that our junior surfers have the ability and local knowledge to make a step up at this level."
The Billabong Junior Series presented by BOS is the longest running junior series in the world, having started way back in 1997. It is also the richest junior series in the world, already having paid out R1,3M to junior surfers in South Africa since the series inception.
"We're really looking forward to this event." said Billabong South Africa Marketing Manager Chad D'Arcy. "The entries have been flooding in with 110 surfers already confirmed. With the best South African junior surfers in attendance and a host of top international groms, this event is guaranteed to be the most exciting junior event on the calendar. We're also really excited about having an event at Magnatubes for the first time, as it is a great high-performance wave that will allow the competitors to really blow up and surf their best. We're expecting some top action amongst some of the best junior surfers in the world."
Surfers not yet entered can enter here - www.surfingsouthafrica.co.za/billabong-junior-series-jeffreys-bay-2015/ and here - wsl.memberpro.net
Event co-sponsors include Nixon, VonZipper, DaKine, KR Fins, and Zigzag Magazine. The Billabong Junior Series presented by BOS is sanctioned by Surfing South Africa. Surfing South Africa is a member of the South African Confederation and Olympic Committee (SASCOC) and is recognised by the Dept. Of Sport and Recreation as the national governing body for surfing.
More information
The series hashtag is #BillabongJnr
About the World Surf League
The World Surf League (WSL) organizes the annual tour of professional surf competitions and broadcasts each event live at WorldSurfLeague.com where you can experience the athleticism, drama and adventure of competitive surfing -- anywhere and anytime it’s on. The WSL sanctions and operates the following tours: the Junior Tour, Longboard Tour, the Qualifying Series (QS), the Big Wave Tour and the crown jewel of the sport, the WSL Championship Tour (CT) which determines the sport's undisputed world champions.
