2021 Pines Surfing Academy Interschool Surf Comp
Posted: 11 May 2021
AUSTRALIA. WOLLONGONG. It’s great to see some things are getting back to normal. On Tuesday 4th May, 7 schools from the Illawarra NSW region battled it out in small and rainy conditions at the Farm, in the long-awaited ASI Accredited Surf School, Pines Surfing Academy Interschool Surfing Competition. The comp hadn’t been run since 2019 due to an unfortunate COVID hiatus, so all the grommets came out super keen to compete for the coveted 15th Interschool surfing title.
It’s no surprise that we had some of the best high school surfers in Australia competing on the day, with the competition bringing in the best talent from around Illawarra. Despite the tiny conditions, we saw some absolute shredders making the most of the 1-2ft offshore waves.
The Illawarra Sport’s High were the hot contenders for the prize, being the defenders of the 2019 title. However, the competition was feisty with the star-studded line-ups of surfers, so we were excited to see how the day would turn out!
The event itself celebrates comradery and teamwork, shaping up to be an awesome day with all the grommies. We had a total of 16 teams competing in a unique style of team event.
Each team has 6 surfers, two of which must be female. Each surfer catches a maximum of 3 waves, then runs out of the water and tags with the next surfer in their team. The aim is to get the highest scoring waves across the whole team, encouraging the schools to work together. The team who finishes the race first gets extra points, with heats running for 60 minutes each.
An added element of fun for the kids is the power surfer – each team gets to pick one surfer who is able to throw their hands up at the end of their best wave, claiming double points for that wave.
A few stand out surfers included Lennox Smith from Illawarra Sports High, returning from his first- place finish at the Billabong Oz Cup, who scored a few 9s on the day. Sammy Lowe from the Illawarra Grammar School, coming off a win at the u14 division of the Billabong Oz Cup, earned plenty of high scoring waves, helping his team through to the final. Sammy was awarded Most Valuable Male Surfer of the day with his stellar performance.
Showing up the boys, we had heaps of the girls absolutely ripping out at Killalea. Shyla and Zahlia Short from Illawarra Sports High caught a few absolute pearlers. Rose Macintosh from Corpus Christi, a regular at Pines Surfing Academy, demonstrated her improvement and shone through in the tricky conditions. Surfing with the boys from Edmund Rice College were Holly Penny and Zoe Morris from St Mary’s College, who proved to be valuable assets to their teammates. Both girls surfed fiercely, with Holly deserving of her selection as Most Valuable Female Surfer on the day.
Oceana Rogers from Warilla High, a local in the line-up at the Farm, was also ripping, bringing in several high scores.
Other formidable opponents included Joshy Marsh from Shellharbour Anglican College, as well as Cash Smith and Will Fowler, both from Corpus Christi. All the groms managed to make the small and tricky conditions look sick, proving to be instrumental in their teams’ progression through to the final. Holy Spirit College’s power sibling duo Anna and Aiden Chamberlain and teammate Max Dingham were ripping, with some impressive small-wave surfing on display.
The competition between each of the schools was tight; in one of the semis, there was a nail-biting
0.5 difference between teams progressing and getting eliminated. After a full day of fierce rivalry, banter, and laughs all round, Illawarra Sports High ended up taking home the big prize, with a close second from Shellharbour Anglican College. Also battling it out in the final was Holy Spirit College finishing 3rd, TIGS 4th, Edmund Rice College/St Mary’s 5th and a young Corpus Christi team finishing 6th.
This contest has always been around fun, encouragement, having a go and working as a team. We never lose sight on the fact that surfing is fun, and while we are in the business, we want that fun to reign supreme.
A big thank you to all the competitors, schools, teachers, parents, and organisers who came out and had buckets of fun. We could not have done it without your support. It was great to see the widely anticipated event make its comeback after a year COVID hiatus. Spirits were in no way dampened by the rain, with all the frothing grommets getting amongst it on the day, remaining unphased by the smaller conditions.
We would love to give a huge thank you to FCS who came down on the day with heaps of new gear for the groms to try out. New ranges of fins, foamies and grip pads were amongst some of the merch down on the beach, which was loved by the whole crowd at the comp. The new Filipe Toledo fins especially looked sick!
Also a massive thank you to Quiksilver, Smoothstar, Ella Bache Wollongong & Roxy for their continue support through the years event.
Hope to see you all next year.
Thank You & Happy Surfing from all the staff at: pinessurfingacademy www.pinessurfingacademy.com.au
More photos on FB - https://www.facebook.com/ASI.Intl/posts/1951495555003562
About ASI
ASI is a professional membership and training organisation and international governing body for instructors, coaches and schools in the outdoor recreation industry for surfing, stand up paddle and bodyboarding.
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