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Oakley Pro Junior
ASP Grade 2 Pro Junior Men's Event
ASP Grade 1 Pro Junior Women’s Event
East Beach, Port Alfred South Africa
1 - 3 May 2009
Oakley Pro Junior set to hit Port Alfred in May
Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 13 March, 2009 : - - The Oakley Pro Junior will see the country’s top young surfers descend upon Port Alfred, South Africa from May 1-3, 2009 for the Grade 2 Junior Men’s and Grade 1 Junior Women’s events. East Beach will play host to the hottest surfing action in the country as the famed right-hander comes alive with the nation’s best junior surfing talents competing for their share of the R125,000.00 prize purse.
“We have moved the Oakley Pro Junior to Port Alfred as it is a world class wave and the surfers deserve to have the best waves to surf it out to make it into the final event in Bali,” said ASP World Tour surfer and Oakley Team Manager Greg Emslie.
“When I was a junior surfer we didn’t have too many contests aimed solely at younger surfers, so it’s great to see a world class event like this as it is crucial for junior surfing. As well as the contest we also have the Red Bull Expression which offers R10,000.00 in prize money for the most radical surfing, so you can be sure the juniors will go big!”
The inaugural girls division will be the first ever ASP Africa sanctioned Pro Junior Women’s event in South Africa, finally giving junior female surfing some of the competitive recognition it deserves. In addition to the massive R10,000.00 on offer to the winner, the Oakley Pro Junior serves as the first of two counting events to select which female will represent South Africa at the World Pro Junior Championships in Australia.
As the breeding ground for the likes of young gun hot-shots such as ASP Women’s World Tour rookie Sally Fitzgibbons and multiple ASP Women’s World Champion Stephanie Gilmore, this event is the ultimate place for x-chromosome surfers to truly test out their surfing artillery on the world stage.
Shaun Joubert, winner of the Oakley Pro Junior event in Durban last year, has confirmed that he will be returning to defend his title, and is thrilled with the change of venue. “I'm super stoked,” said the 18 year-old Oakley team rider, “Port Alfred is a sick place and I really enjoy surfing East Beach so it should be good. I’m definitely amped to hold on to the title and make it two in a row. That’s definitely the goal, but I’m just going to go out there and give it my best shot and see what happens.”
Joubert, who went on to a phenomenal third place finish in the 2008 Oakley Pro Junior Global Challenge in Bali, will face tough competition from the likes of last year’s runner up Nick Godfrey (Cape St Francis), Cape Town junior sensation Matt Bromley and the talented Natal duo of Klee Strachan (Winkelspruit) and Chad du Toit (Durban).
After losing to Joubert in the 2008 quarterfinals, fellow Oakley team rider Chad du Toit is enthusiastic to claim the 2009 Oakley Pro Junior title for himself, as well as take home the incredible R25,000.00 winner’s cheque.
“Port Alfred is a wave that everybody loves,” said the talented natural-footer. “It’s got a lot of push which allows for high performance surfing so I am really looking forward to the event. It’s going to be very important to make the final in Port Alfred so that I can get into the final Oakley Pro Junior in Bali as that is the most prestigious event and the biggest prize purse in world junior surfing!”
Port Alfred local Lungani Memani, fresh off a victory at the Border Surfing Trials, is determined to carry through his winning form into this event. “I’m stoked because I’ve always wanted to have one of those big contests here,” said the Oakley team rider. “East Beach is one of the best waves in South Africa. I surf with Nick Godfrey, Shaun Joubert and the rest of the junior guys all the time and hopefully I’ll be able to get a good result because it’s my home break and I know the wave better.”
Memani has been focusing on his fitness and fine-tuning his quiver of boards to best prepare him for the 2009 contest season. “I’ve been training – if I’m not surfing I’m running, doing push-ups and all that. Last year I wasn’t fit enough and wasn’t training enough, and I also didn’t connect with my boards too well. I’m stoked because I’ve got a good bunch of boards and I’m feeling in shape right now.”
Eastern Cape surf star and South African Masters division runner-up Warwick Heny, himself a member of the South African Junior team in 1992, was very excited about watching South Africa’s best young surfers at his home break. “Hopefully the local talent will be able to perform well,” said Heny “as this event is a good opportunity for them to compete against the best junior surfers in the country. The Port Alfred youngsters don’t often get to see the quality of surfing that we can expect from the Oakley Pro Junior, so it should be a great event for everyone involved.”
“We must say thanks to Fanie Fouche, Environmental Officer at the Ndlambe Municipality who was very helpful in seeing this event come together,” added Heny, “and we hope that this event will realize their vision of boosting tourism and help put Port Alfred on the map.”
On top of the lucrative winner’s cheque, the two Junior Men’s finalists are granted entry into the prestigious 2009 Oakley Pro Junior Global Challenge held in Bali from 7-17 October. “The final event in Bali is what the surfers are fighting for,” said Greg Emslie. “The surfer who wins there is regarded as the next big thing in the surfing world, so the juniors will be pushing the limits in Port Alfred to make sure they make it into top two spots.”
Worldwide, the Oakley Pro Junior series offers a total prize purse of $165,000 with $75,000 on the line at the final event. The $20,000 cheque for winning the Oakley Pro Junior Global Challenge in Bali is the biggest first-place prize in junior surfing.
KUTA, Indonesia (AFP) — Australian surfing pioneer Kim "Fly" Bradley died last week at his home on Bali, the Indonesian island he surfed almost alone in the early 1970s. He was 54.
His daughter, Dewi Bradley, said he died on March 26, a spiritual holiday for Balinese Hindus known as the "Day of Silence."
Family members found him two days later, in his favourite room in the house he built overlooking Kuta beach, she said.
The surfing legend and father-of-two from Sydney had battled skin cancer for years but the official cause of death had not been determined.
"My father had long suffered from skin disease, but the cause of death will be issued in two weeks by the hospital," Dewi told AFP, adding that her father, a convert to Hinduism, would be cremated at the end of April.
Fair-skinned and fair-haired, Bradley grew up surfing Sydney's northern beaches in the 1960s before the days of effective sunscreen.
In his later years his condition was so bad he was unable to venture out in the sun, let alone on to the waves, so he busied himself with surfboard design and shaping.
Known as "the Fly" because of his small stature, Bradley claimed to have made the first surfboard built in Indonesia and later started a successful clothing business with his Balinese wife, Made.
His friend, Dian Hadiani, said he would often talk about his early days on Bali when he surfed the famous breaks of Dreamland, Nusa Dua and Balangan alone, having flown to the island on a whim in 1974 aged just 19.
"The last time I met him was a week before he died. He hugged me tightly and quite long. He then gave me a pile of his diaries and photos and asked me to keep them," she said.
"I didn't find anything wrong with his health -- he smoked cigarettes as usual."
In a 2007 interview with "Surfer's Path" magazine, Bradley recalled the excitement of exploring Bali's huge offshore breaks with a small group of other surfers.
"We had to work it out for ourselves... there's like 26 breaks or something on the Bukit Peninsula now, but when I came we knew of two," he was quoted as saying.
"Paddling out at 12 foot (four metres) Nusa Dua by yourself... even at eight foot it's pretty scary.
"You're looking out there and it's 10-12 foot but it's too good to resist so I'd say a quiet word to myself and my master: 'Well if it's today, it's a good day to die.'
"If I die standing up in a 12-foot barrel, if the master says it's my time to go... then what a way to go."
After much wishful thinking in recent weeks, the Bay Area's big-wave surfing bash was finally caught in the undertow, getting called off today for the second time in three years.
Fortunately for the Mavericks Surf Contest, it doesn't appear to be the type of violent, oxygen-depriving wipeout its namesake break is famous for.
Organizers are looking at ways to sidestep poor wave-producing winters, namely opening the window Nov. 1 to take advantage of the North Pacific's meteorological sweet spot. The sponsors who put up a record $150,000 in prize money are expected to remain on board for next year.
And, perhaps most important in the eyes of the 24 invited surfers, the sanctity of a modern natural wonder wasn't compromised.
"Everyone I talk to says the same thing: If it's not absolutely solid, just don't even do it," contestant Zach Wormhoudt of Santa Cruz said recently.
In previous years, the contest window opened in November or December. But this event got off to a tardy start — early January — when the pre-recession ripples made it difficult to lock in sponsorship commitments.
By the time a promising mid-January swell had fizzled along the San Mateo coast, those who track Mavericks' every hiccup were doubtful a contestable swell would emerge before the March 31 deadline. A La Niña condition had put its clamps on the storm track, shutting down all but a few pulses for the California coast and Hawaii.
"It's going to be tough. The models just don't look very good at all," official Mavericks surf forecaster Mark Sponsler said at the time.
When the predictions proved accurate, and a swell targeting Northern California for Monday emerged, organizers hoped to extend the contest window another week.
But today, the white flag was waved — largely because of environmental concerns expressed by the Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary. It was feared bringing thousands out to the coast for the one-day event during the breeding season for seabirds and marine mammals could have a negative impact.
"The presence of listed and vulnerable species, newly born harbor seal pups, migrating whales, and nesting birds make April a particularly sensitive time," GFNMS Superintendent Maria Brown said in Mavericks press release. "Any wildlife disturbance by boats, people on foot, and aircraft can result in mortality. Wildlife conservation is a concern throughout the entire year, but especially serious consequences can result if vulnerable species are not able to breed successfully at critical times during the year, including right now."
Even without the environmental concerns, the swell models examined by Sponsler and others suggest the storm will track too far north to target Mavericks and probably be accompanied by chop-inducing north winds. Instead, organizers will set their sights on a Nov. 1 start seven months from now.
Mavericks Surf Ventures CEO Keir Beadling said increased sponsorship commitments from others beyond Campbell-based Barracuda Networks and Moose Guen of MVision will be key in extending the window.
"It is my hope that the additional sponsorship support we'll need to officially announce a Nov. 1 opening will be forthcoming," Beadling said via e-mail. "I'm working on that."
Only five significant swells — energy masses that have enough size and duration to create mountains of water at Mavericks — pushed through all winter. During the average winter, the storm track produces three times that amount. And the bullish El Niño years of the late 1990s would produce upwards of 30.
"The worst year ever," contest director Jeff Clark called it in March.
But throwing a big-wave surf contest is largely an act of faith. The window for the Eddie Aikau Invitational on Oahu's North Shore closed in February, leaving the event grounded for the fifth consecutive year. In its 23 years of existence, the Eddie has been contested only seven times.
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