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Posted on Wednesday September 23rd 2009 at 1:19 p.m.
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The event will be held from January 20-28, 2010 in the consistent waves of Piha Beach, 40 km west of the capital Auckland.
The contest will bring together more than 200 junior competitors from about 35 countries that will compete for the Team and Individual Gold medals in the Under 18 Boys, Under 16 Boys and Under 18 Girls categories.
The first-rate tourism and organizational infrastructure, excellent waves and constant growth of surfing at professional and institutional levels, made New Zealand the ideal choice for the 2010 edition of the Quiksilver ISA World Junior Surfing Championship.
"New Zealand is an amazing location with perfect waves and a great surfing culture. It's really important to notice that this is the first time after more than 25 years that the ISA holds an event of this magnitude in the Australasia zone", said ISA President, Fernando Aguerre, on in preparation for this future event.
Greg Townsend, CEO of Surfing New Zealand commented: "We are excited to have been given this huge opportunity to showcase our unique culture and one of the most spectacular coastlines in the world." while at the same time giving New Zealanders a taste of the very best the sport of surfing can deliver."
Quiksilver, main sponsor of the competition for eight consecutive years, showed its trust in the event and reaffirmed the World Junior as the main junior surfing event in the world. They could not hide their satisfaction with this future event. Luke Watson, Marketing Operations Manager of Quiksilver Australia, declared:
"We are very excited to have the Quiksilver ISA World Junior Surfing Championship in New Zealand. NZ is such and amazing place. We will have great waves and awesome weather at this time of year. Everybody involved will have a ball."
IMPORTANT INFORMATION
On New Zealand:
Situated in the South Pacific, 1600 kilometers east of Australia and fully encircled by spectacular coastline, New Zealand is world renowned for its remarkable beauty.
Un-crowded and Easily Accessible Waves:
New Zealand surf conditions are pristine and un-crowded. Basically, it is a secret that because of our unique geography, the waves are easily accessed by car or short plane journey and the small population make the un-crowded waves easy to find.
Good Swell and Wind Conditions:
New Zealand is unique as a surf destination in that it has 7 definable "coasts" for surfing. The North Island is literally a diamond with North East, North West, South East and South West coastal directions all offering up completely different surf, swell and wind conditions all within a 10 hour drive.
Likewise the South Island has multiple options for the traveling surfer with good waves to be found in virtually any wind and swell combos somewhere on the island.
Scenic Coast Lines:
The New Zealand coastline is beautiful, 100% pure and simple. Visiting surfers are blown away and anecdotal evidence suggests it is viewed as some of the most spectacular coast in the world.
Cost Effective Travel:
At the moment (given current exchange rates and NZ relative economic stability) the costs of taking a surf tour to New Zealand would compare favorably with most other major surf tourist destinations like France, Spain, Portugal, South America, Central America, USA and Australia.
Safety:
Of all the major surfing tourism destinations, New Zealand (along with Australia) is the safest in terms of both in the water (dangerous surf conditions, sharks e.g.) and out of the water.
Good Water Temperature in Northern
Hemisphere Winter:
The single largest traveling surfer contingent is from the USA whose winter, particularly in places like Northern California, is cold and harsh. Likewise the UK, with a total surfing population of 250,000, is a worthwhile target given their colder conditions year round!
About Piha Beach
Piha is a spectacular iron sand surf beach on the west coast of Auckland city in the Waitakere Ranges Regional Park, inhabited by a close-knit seaside community.
The western coast is raw, wild and magnificent - a backdrop for heroes if ever there was one.
Volcanic cliffs tower above glistening iron sand, and the rough Tasman Sea swells and crashes onto sweeping shorelines.
The green Waitakere Ranges rise steeply away from the beaches, and the only way in and out is along the narrow roads that wind down through the hills.
For all that, it is a fragile place. The lush bush is still young and regenerating after the milling of the great kauri forests last century. Birds, penguins and fur seals live meters from human stomping grounds, shellfish stocks are vulnerable; even the sand dunes are delicate.
Centre stage at Piha is the hulk of Lion Rock, once a key pa (fort) from which the Kawerau people defended the shoreline. They named the beach for the way the waves break around the rock.
In heavy seas the surf erupts through gaps in the rocks to the south, and the water has worn a theatrical, keyhole-shaped fissure through one outcrop.
Piha surf forecast
Piha consists of two distinct beaches - South and North Piha, with Lion Rock dividing them. South Piha features a quality left-hand bar break off Camel Rock (or the Beehive).
Shifting sandbars produce a sucky wedge takeoff and long workable walls ending with a heavy shory.
North Piha features good peaks all along the beach and generally picks up a little more swell.
Piha is best surfed between 3-6ft (1-2.5m).
On the Quiksilver ISA World Junior Surfing Championship
The Junior category began to compete in world events in 1980. The first World Junior Champion was Tom Curren, who later became 3-time World Open Champion.
Beginning in 2003, the International Surfing Association, conscious of the expansion of world juvenile surfing, decided to offer the under-18 athletes their own event.
The first edition of the Quiksilver ISA World Junior Surfing Championship was held in South Africa in 2003. From then on, the competition was held annually at the following locations: Tahití 2004, United States 2005, Brazil 2006, Portugal 2007, France 2008 and Ecuador 2009. The 2010 edition will be the first time in history that the event will be held in the Australasia zone.
Gallery of the Quiksilver ISA World Junior Surfing Championship Champion Nations
2003 - Durban, South Africa - Gold Medal: Brazilian Team
2004 - Papenoo, Tahiti - Gold Medal: Australian Team
2005 - Huntington Beach, United States - Gold Medal: Hawaiian Team
2006 - Maresias, Brazil - Gold Medal: Australian Team
2007 - Costa de Caparica, Portugal - Gold Medal: Australian Team
2008 - Seignosse, France - Gold Medal: Australian Team
2009 - Salinas, Ecuador - Gold Medal: Australian Team
Australia won five of the seven editions of the event. Brazil and Hawaii won one event each.
2009 Quiksilver ISA World Junior Surfing
Championship Medalists
Teams
Gold: Australia - 5383 points
Silver: Hawaii - 5263 points
Bronze: Brazil - 4920 points
Copper: United States - 4603 points
Boys Under 18
Gold: Dean Bowen (AUS)
Silver: Miguel Pupo (BRA)
Bronze: Maxime Huscenot (FRA)
Copper: Dylan Goodale (HAW)
Boys Under 16
Gold: Keanu Asing (HAW)
Silver: Gabriel Medina (BRA)
Bronze: David Brand (ZAF)
Copper: Jessé Mendes (BRA)
Final Result Girls Under18
Gold: Tyler Wright (AUS)
Silver: Courtney Conlogue (USA)
Bronze: Alessa Quizon (HAW)
Copper: Laura Enever (AUS)
About the International Surfing Association (ISA)
The International Surfing Association (ISA) is recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) as the World Governing Authority for Surfing. It was originally founded as the International Surfing Federation in 1964 and has been running world championships since 1964 and the Junior World Championships since 1980.
ISA membership includes the surfing National Governing Bodies (NGBs) of over 50 countries on six continents. Its headquarters are located in La Jolla, California. It is presided by Fernando Aguerre, first elected in 1994 in Rio, and re-elected six times since. The ISA's four Vice Presidents are Alan Atkins (Australia), Robin de Kock (South Africa), Mike Gerard (USA) and Karín Sierralta (Peru).