Dale Staples : photo courtesy Billabong South Africa

Billabong South Africa has announced an exciting line-up of hot surfing events for the coming year - covering every aspect of the surfing lifestyle ranging from beginners to world champions and including internationally rated Pro Junior contests, a grommets’ series and a unique free-surfing challenge.

The cornerstone of the program is the R3.4 million Billabong Pro in Jeffreys Bay. The 13th edition of Africa’s only ASP World Tour event will again showcase the world’s top 45 ranked competitors as the likes of Kelly Slater, Taj Burrow, Joel Parkinson and the rest of surfing’s super stars strut their stuff in the fabled waves of Supertubes from 9-19 July.

The Billabong Junior Series, SA’s premier national tour for surfers aged 20-and-younger, will crown annual champions for the 13th consecutive year in 2009 and has been significantly upgraded to include three ASP International grade Pro Junior events, two for boys and one for girls.

The Billabong Junior Series gets underway in Scottburgh, KZN South Coast on the Easter weekend (Wed 8 – Sat 11 April) with a Grade 1, R50 000 Pro Junior boys event and Pro Surf Tour (PST) events for Pro Junior girls and Under 12, U14 and U16 divisions for boys.

The second leg will be staged at The Point in Jeffreys Bay with the inaugural running of the Occy Grom Comp for U12 to U16 boys. Hosted during the Billabong Pro in July by 1999 world champion, surfing legend and Billabong icon Mark Occhilupo, this event will give the country’s rising stars the opportunity to meet and mingle with their heroes while watching them at work chasing world championship points in the country’s best waves.

The Occy Grom Comp has a seven day waiting period (9-15 July) and will be run on two days when the Billabong Pro is on hold, with the results counting towards the 2009 series ratings.

The Billabong Junior Series reaches its climax at Victoria Bay during the September school holidays with a Grade 2, R100 000 Pro Junior boys, a Grade 1, R25 000 Pro Junior girls and PST events for U12 to U16 boys at one of the most consistent and popular contest venues on the SA coastline.

As the final event on the SA Junior calendar, this prestigious tournament will determine the 2009 Billabong Junior Series champions, the ASP Africa Pro Junior champions and also the four boys and a girl who will earn the coveted invitations to compete in the annual Billabong ASP World Junior Championships in Australia next January.

Billabong has also committed to another one-of-a-kind Billabong Challenge which will be presented by FNB. In 2008 this event saw eight of the land’s most outstanding junior performers scouring the coast for the best waves in a no-holds-barred, no-judges, five-day free-surfing blow-out.

With no ‘normal contest rules’, the participants judged each other and a whopping R25 000 in cash was given away for categories such as Top Gun, Balls-To-The-Wall, Power Manoeuvre and the Best Pilot for aerial antics. Details of the 2009 version are being kept under lock and key, so watch the media and your favourite websites for details on dates, regions, epic photos and awesome video footage.

The 2009 Billabong SA program culminates in the ‘Girls Get Out There’ Summer Tour that visits the premier coastal destinations, traveling through KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern and Western Cape during December in a customised 36-seater bus bringing fun in the sun to everyone.

The Billabong girls surf team and lifestyle girls provide free Learn to Surf lessons, Yoga sessions and creative workshops at each stop along the way with plenty of promotions and give-aways to encourage girls to get out there and live the dream of sunshine, the great outdoors and the beach lifestyle.

The first Billabong Junior Series event at Scottburgh is just five weeks off and competitors who intend competing in the internationally rated Pro Junior boy’s event are reminded that their ASP Africa membership and entries must be completed by 8 March (one month in advance). This can be done via the online entry system at aspafrica.com. Queries can be directed to Terri at the ASP Africa office on 021 534 5738 or aspafricaadm@mweb.co.za

Competitors in the PST rated Pro Junior girls and U12 to U16 divisions can enter online via billabong.com with the deadline being two weeks prior to the event dates to avoid incurring a late-entry penalty.

The internationally rated Pro Junior events are sanctioned by ASP Africa while the PST divisions are sanctioned by Surfing South Africa, the controlling body for the sport in this country.

Courtesy: www.aspafrica.com