FOLLOWING five hugely successful events held around the country, the 2024 Surfing England Junior Surf Series came to fitting end in Newquay on Tuesday, October 29, with all four age group winners coming from Cornwall.

Now in its third season the finale saw a fantastic day of teaching, fun and surfing at world famous Fistral Beach.

From the outset the Junior Surf Series has been about creating a fun set of club supported events to encourage new as well as established surfers to get involved and gain contest experience in under 12 and 14 age categories.

Invites were sent out to every series competitor who’d either won a division or placed second if the winner had already qualified, and that’s how 18 competitors found themselves assembled on Fistral’s famed sands looking at great waves excited for what was to come.

The day kicked off with a classroom competition training session with a focus on priority surfing led by one the UK’s most experienced priority judges, Kerry Powell. An engaging informative session took place with lots of great questions from the youngsters. 

Next it was time to hit the sand with Team England junior coach Beau Bromham taking the athletes through warm-ups and training routines. 

Then it was time to hit the water with the youngsters launching in to practice priority heats and a chance to rack up priority experience and build their competitive knowledge.

When not in the water, they took their turn at the priority board, learning the intricacies of paddle battles, assigning priority and what makes an interference.

For each division there could only be one series champion, and emerging from seriously hard fought finals it was Perranporth’s Ellie Hickie and Newquay’s Harvey Waters who took the crowns in the Under 12 Girls and Boys divisions.

In the Under 14s, Perranporth’s Seb Whitely put on an impressive performance to take the boys title and Newquay’s Lila Skinner came out top at her home break to become the Girls Junior Surf Series Champion 2024.

Newquay's Lila Skinner (left) and Perranporth's Seb Whitely (right) were the respective Under 14 winners. Pictures: Andy Holter
Newquay's Lila Skinner (left) and Perranporth's Seb Whitely (right) were the respective Under 14 winners. Pictures: Andy Holter (Andy Holter)

“It’s epic to see the Junior Surf Series giving these youngsters a platform to develop their competitive surfing and showcase what the best juniors in the country can achieve”, said Ben Powis, CEO at Surfing England.

“The series has always been about growth and learning, new skills, new experiences, new friendships and the finals have illustrated that perfectly.”

Talking of sporting inspiration, who better to crown the champions and dish out the prizes than Newquay’s English surf prodigy, Lukas Skinner.

Surfing England Tour lead, Phil Williams said: “A fantastic end to another exciting year of the Junior Series, the standard over these three years continues to improve, but the fun and community continues to be a key part. This year we went to new locations, worked with fantastic surf clubs, and we can’t wait to start planning for 2025!”