THE BARBADOS SURFING ASSOCIATION HOLDS ITS ANNUAL SCHOOL SURFING CHAMPIONSHIPS
The Barbados Surfing Association held its School Surfing Championships on Saturday, April 25th at Brandens, Drill Hall Beach. There were fifty-two entries from eight public and private primary and secondary schools from across the island – with competitors as young as seven years of age. The Divisions contested were Boys and Girls Under 10, Under 12, Under 16 and Under 19. Surfers competed in three to five foot waves making conditions ideal for the young competitors.
In the Boys Under 10 Division, Jack Degruchy from Wills Primary came out the winner, Andrew Rose from St. Winifred’s was second, Zander Venezia and Jacob Burke also from St. Winifred’s were third and fourth respectively..
In the Girls Under 12 Division, the lone competitor was Isabella Venezia who took the gold medal. In the Boys Under 12 Division, Dane Mackie from St. Winifred’s took top honours while Gavin Fernandes from the St. Michael School was second, Joshua Burke and Che Allan from St. Winifred’s were third and fourth respectively..
In the Girls Under 16 age group, Chelsea Tuach from Queen’s College emerged victorious, Ametza Nicholls from the St. Michael School was second, Chelsea Roett from St. Winifred’s was third and Alyssa Fernandes from St. Ursula’s was fourth. In the Boys Under 16 Division, Mathew Kieffer from Queen’s College showed his experience and skill on the waves to earn the top spot while Daniel Edghill from the Seventh Day Adventist School was second , Gavin Fernandes was third and Dane Mackie fourth.
Thirteen year old Daniel Edghill emerged the winner in the Boys Under 19 age group while Mathew Kieffer was second and Warren Ashby from Queen’s College was third. In the Girls Under 19 age group, Ametza Nicholls was first, Chelsea Tuach was second, Chelsea Roett third and Jade Niccolls from St. Winifred’s was fourth.
The top four placed competitors in each Division received points for his or her school . Four of Barbados’ most talented Junior surfers namely thirteen year olds Chelsea Tuach and Daniel Edghill, fifteen year old Ametza Nicholls and sixteen year old Matthew Kieffer, all of whom made it to the finals of the Divisions in which they surfed, won the most points for their schools, each amassing 1, 860 points. In addition, Chelsea Tuach won the expression session for the Girls with some good front-side and back-hand re-entries. This session was sponsored by Lavazza Coffee with the objective of boosting women’s surfing in Barbados.
In the end, the Seventh Day Adventist School was fourth with 1860 points, in third position was the St. Michael School with 3, 450 points, in second position was Queen’s College with 4450 points while the defending Champions, the St. Winifred’s School emerged victorious once again with a total of 8460 points. The BSA thanks all its sponsors, namely N.K.M., Lavazza Coffee, L.E. Gibbs and Co Ltd, HIPAC Ltd and Williams Equipment, for helping to make the event the success that it was.
BARBADOS’ JUNIORS RIDING HIGH
Meanwhile, in Europe, Lewis St. John did Barbados proud by placing first in the Junior Division of the Volcom VQS Hillbillies European Championship held on April 25th and 26th, 2009 in France. This earned him a ticket to compete at the California leg of this event, where unfortunately he was eliminated in the first round. Jordan Heaselgrave has also been busy competing overseas. He competed in the ESA Mid-Atlantic Regional Surfing Championships in the Junior Men’s Division held in Aguadilla, Puerto Rico April 22-25, placing 25th overall and then went on to California to compete in the Grom Division of the Volcom VQS Hillbillies event, making it through to the second round.
BSA HOSTS SOTY # 2
The Barbados Surfing Association held its second Surfer Of The Year event on May 9th and 10th at Brandens, Drill Hall Beach. The Divisions contested were the Open, Junior Boys Under 21 and Under 16, Ladies, Under-18 Girls, Senior Men (over 28 years), Masters (over 35 years), Under 12 Juniors, Menehunes and Longboard.
Conditions were fair with waves in the 2 – 4 ft range allowing giving those who competed the opportunity to showcase their skills. Alan Burke won the Open Division showing his experience as he executed radical, controlled maneuvers to win from David Hoad who was second. Jake Corbin was third and Sam Taylor fourth. In the Ladies’ Division competition was fierce and in the end Ametza Nicholls was first while Chelsea Tuach was second, Chelsea Roett third and Alyssa Fernandes fourth. Ametza Nicholls also took top honours in the Under- 18 Girls Division, while Chelsea Tuach was second, Chelsea Roett third and Alyssa Fernandes fourth.
In the Under 21 Boys Division, Stefan Corbin was first, Jonathan Reece second, Daniel Edghill third and Matthew Kieffer fourth. Matthew Kieffer went on to place first in the Under 16 Junior Boys Division while Gavin Fernandes was second, Zach Foster third and Joshua Burke fourth.
The Under 12 Division was won by Dane Mackie, while Gavin Fernandes placed second, Joshua Burke third and Che Allan fourth. Andrew Rose won the Menehune (10 and under) Division, while Zander Venezia was second, Che Allan third and Jack Degruchy fourth.
The Senior Men Division was won by Julius Polland, Simon Coles was second, Christopher Clarke third and Javier Lemoine fourth. In the Masters event, Zed Layson (a former national champion and surfing legend) was first, Sebastian Bradshaw second, Wayne Roett third and Kenny Tuach fourth.
Zed Layson also won the Longboard Division, Alan Burke was second, Wayne Roett was third and Kenny Tuach fourth.
At the end of the day, expression sessions for the Junior Boys and Girls sponsored by LaVazza Coffee were held. These were won by Stefan Corbin and Ametza Nicholls respectively with some eye-catching maneuvers!
Once again, the BSA thanks its sponsors, namely HIPAC Ltd, Williams Equipment, L. E. Gibbs & Company, WIBISCO and LaVazza Coffee for their continued support.
SIX STAND-OUT SURFERS READY TO REPRESENT BARBADOS AT THE 2009 BILLABONG ISA WORLD SURFING GAMES
The Barbados Surfing Association, the recognized national governing body for the sport of surfing in Barbados, will send six (6) surfers to compete at the Billabong ISA World Surfing Games in Playa Hermosa, Costa Rica from July 31st to August 9th, 2009. The team comprises four (4) Open Men –Stefan Corbin, Simon Coles, Christopher Clarke and Jonathan Reece; Longboarder, Kenny Tuach and Open Lady –Chelsea Tuach. They will be accompanied by Team Manager and Assistant Coach, Peter Corbin, Assistant Manager, Carlos Wharton, Coach, Nicholas Donawa and Judge Elvis Carter.
Our Barbadian team members have all been training hard and are seeking to achieve an excellent performances and honour for their country. Barbados has not competed in the World Surfing Games since 2006 and this experience is going to be an invaluable one for our surfers and for surfing in Barbados. The BSA is very grateful to all its sponsors, especially the Barbados Olympic Association, for helping to make it possible to send a team to this year’s event.
BSA TO HOST FUND-RAISER
The Barbados Surfing Association will be holding a grand fete at the Barbados cruising Club, Bay Street on Saturday, June 6th . Tickets are just $20. Top bands and DJs to be in action!! So please come on out for a night of fun in support our surfers traveling to the World Surfing Games. Tickets available from any committee member.
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE APPOINTS A NEW TREASURER
The Barbados Surfing Association wishes to announce that the BSA Treasurer since January 2006, Rachel Roett has resigned due to work-related pressures. We wish to take this opportunity to acknowledge Rachel for her efforts during thee years. Her contribution to the development of surfing in Barbados has been invaluable and we look forward to working with her on specific activities as we go forward.
Section (9)., Paragraph (4) of the BSA Constitution states that “Any casual vacancy in the Executive Committee may be filled by the Committee, appointing an eligible member of the BSA to hold such a post until the next Annual General Meeting”. Simon Coles will serve as Treasurer for the remainder of the term. We wish to offer our congratulations to both of them for their commitment and contribution to this sport that we all love.