TWELVE local youth will be among more than 90 groms who will take to the waves this weekend in the inaugural Surf Reflections Junior Series at Rainbow Beach on the New South Wales Mid North Coast, with pro surfers Jarvis Earle and Matt Banting on hand as their mentors.
Announced late last year as an expansion of the Reflections Cadet Cup, the Surf Reflections Junior Series is spearheaded by iconic surfing festival Surfest and Crown land holiday park manager Reflections Holidays, the largest holiday park group in New South Wales.
The Reflections Junior Series comprises three events in 2026: Bonny Hills (February 6-8), Urunga/Hungry Head (May 8-10) and Tuncurry/Forster (November 13-15), with Under 14s and 16s age categories for boys and girls.
The 12 local entrants in this weekend's competition at Bonny Hills are Aliyah Cormack (girls Under 14s), Lucy Hazell (Under 16s), Sunny Butler (Under 16 boys), Lennox Tate (Under 14 boys), Harry Stephens (Under 16s), Asher Winters (Under 16 boys), Albi Winters (Under 14 boys), Boaz Davy (Under 16 boys), Leo O'Rafferty (Under 14s), Beau Hall (Under 14s), Zeke Woollam (Under 16s) and Sebastian Hickey (Under 16s).
Surfest founder Warren Smith said the Surf Reflections Junior Series was nurturing the careers of the State's most promising young surfers, with each competition is a 5500-rated event on Surfing Australia's National Series calendar.
"The Surf Reflections Junior Series has grown immensely in scale after it started as a single Cup event, and we've seen the standard and talent of surfing rising with it in the next generation of Australian surfers, all with incredible support from our surfing communities," Mr Smith said.
Reflections CEO Nick Baker said that the organisation's belief that life is better outside was being lived and breathed at the Junior Series, which gave local surfers the unique chance to compete at their local break and also bolstered regional tourism.
"The economic impact of the first Cup in 2024 was around $90,000 and we anticipate that sum will rise to $270,000 in 2026 across the three events, which is a win for regional tourism," Mr Baker said.
Minister for Lands and Property, Sport and Tourism Steve Kamper said it was great to see the success of the inaugural Cadet Cup lead to its expansion to a three-event series.
"Hosting the Surf Reflections Junior Series on Crown land is supporting healthy, active communities and giving young people the chance to chase their sporting dreams while providing a boost for regional tourism," Mr Kamper said.
"NSW's beaches are some of our State's greatest public assets and it's terrific to see them used to support the next generation of surfing talent."
The first event of the Series at Bonny Hills kicks off on Friday, February 6 with food trucks and mini putt putt organised by Rivvia. On Saturday, the competition begins, with local pro surfer Matt Banting leading a heat preparation "warm up" for the entrants. In the evening, Banting will be joined by his peer Jarvis Earle to answer questions from the entrants and visitors.
The competition finals will play out on Sunday, when age category winners will be announced. Each winner will receive a $2500 accommodation voucher from Reflections Holidays.
