BARBADOS JUNIOR SURFING CLUB MEMBERS TAKE AIM AT INTERNATIONAL EVENTS

A contingent of Barbados’ finest young surfers seeks glory on U.S. soil over the weekend of 22nd-24th April 2011. In part funded by the Barbados Junior Surfing Club the squad is led by Chelsea Roett who is making her debut on the Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) Pro Junior Tour attending the 4-star Rob Machado ASP Pro Junior in Seaside, California. According to Alan Burke, President of the Barbados Junior Surfing Club, “The event is the first of three stops on the Women’s ASP North America Pro Junior Series where the winner qualifies for the ASP Women’s World Junior Tour. As such this is a pivotal step in taking Roett’s international surfing career the next logical step… to the professional level.” Roett who won the BJSC’s Under 18 Girls Division in 2010 as well as the Barbados Surfing Association’s Under 18 Girls, Open Women’s Division, and is the BSA’s Under 18 Girls Caribbean Junior Champion will be capitalizing on past regional and international successes such as those at the Rip Curl Grom Search, Ron Jons Surf Festival and NKF Surf Festival among others to stake her claim on the international stage. She will be going head to head with many of the top rising stars in women’s surfing, such as Lakey Peterson, in a 24-competitor junior women’s division with US$10,000 prize purse. The event can be seen live on the 22nd and 23rd April at http://www.robmachadoprojr.com .

On the other side of the US continent eight (8) of the Barbados Junior Surfing Club’s younger groms will be looking to make their mark at the 47th Annual Ron Jons Surf Festival to be staged at the Cocoa Beach Pier and Sheppard Park, in Cocoa Beach Florida. The event has multiple divisions including events for Men, Women, Boys and Girls, from ages six to sixty, and as a festival has various beach activities for all from live bands to beach games. For over four decades the Ron Jon Easter Surfing Festival has continued to be a major force in the growth of surfing on the East Coast of the United States, and the event is the second oldest, most diverse and publicized event of its type giving the Club’s junior surfers great opportunity to prove themselves competitively on the international stage and gain the necessary exposure throughout the surfing community. Leading this squad will be event veterans including Joshua Burke, who was recently sponsored by Billabong and finished 2nd in the 14 & Under and Under 18 Divisionsat last years festival; Dane Mackie who finished 1st in the 12 & Under, 3rd in the 14 & Under and 5th in the Under 18; Chelsea Tuach who finished 5th in the Open Womens; Che Allan who finished 3rd in the 12 & Under; and Jacob Burke who finished 5th in the 12 & Under at the 46th annual Ron Jons Surf Festival in 2010. New entrants to the 2011 Ron Jons festival and seeking their claim at the event will be Andrew Rose who finished 2nd in the 10 & Under Division of the BJSC in 2010 and was the BSA Lazy Days Under 12 Boys National Champion in 2010; Isabella Venezia who is the BJSC’s reigning 12 & Under Girls Champion also finishing 3rd in the BSA’s Under 18 Girls Division in 2010; and finally Zander Venezia who finished 2nd in the BSA’s Under 12 Boys Division in 2010 and 4th in the BJSC’s 10 & Under Division. For further information on the Festival please visit http://www.eastersurffest.com .

The Barbados Junior Surfing Club is excited about the field of talent heading north this Easter weekend. According to Vice President, Gregory Rose “the level of junior surfing is progressing exponentially with significant dedication and hard work to its development from both the Barbados Junior Surfing Club and Barbados Surfing Association,” he continues “this team of juniors is extremely talented and we are looking forward to great performances from all”. The Barbados Junior Surfing Club was established in 2010 with a mission to develop junior surfing in Barbados. The Club assists its members in developing their surfing skills through structured surfing events, advice and training on matters such as surfing competition, judging and all other areas particular to the development of our sport in Barbados. For further information please visit the Club’s website at http://www.bdosjuniorsurfing.org or its Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/bdosjuniorsurfing .

Jordan Heaselgrave and Evan Moll notch finals time in Volcom's Catfish Series in Puerto Rico

March 19th -20th, 2011 Aviones, Puerto Rico Two of our young local shredders, Jordan Heaselgrave and Evan Moll, made their way to Puerto Rico for the Volcom Catfish Series event on March 19th - 20th. Jordan would slash his way through the Junior Division to a 6th place overall finals finish. Young grom Evan Moll would maul Aviones to place 4th in the Groms division and be invited to the finals in California in May. Congrats guys!! As taken from the Volcom site ..."we arrived early Saturday morning to the sound of pouring rain and howling wind. So we zipped our raincoats, had a little pep talk and got to work. As the rain passed it was time to kick-off the Catfish surf series at Aviones in beautiful San Juan, Puerto Rico with fun 3-5 foot surf. The competitors mobbed the sign up tent and when it was all said and done we were left with about 150 competitors ready to battle it out for the prizes, cash, and valuable VQS Champs qualifying spots. The first day went off without a hitch with warm weather and great surf. The kids made it rain ketchup and mayonnaise all over the beach as the competitors chewed their way through the first rounds in all divisions. Here are some of day one standouts: In the Pro-am division Nick Rupp made quick work with a couple of 8’s and some crazy man-child turns. Lief Engstrom all the way from Long Island, NY was going huge and with big frontside air reverse early and looked to be in the running for the Electric Volt Thrower Move of the event. Day two was epic, but with conditions a little more challenging, the competitors had their work cut out for them. Here are some of the standouts from the finals. The Squids division was amazing, these little dudes were all about the fun and didn’t even care that they were competing. Jorge Martinez proved worthy of the victory getting up on his own and cruising with style and grace. The Girls division had three first round heats jam packed with talent. When the fat lady sang it was Maria Kusmovich who beat out the competition and sealed her spot at VQS champs. The Groms in PR are at another level. This was easily one of the closest finals to go down this season. Billy Mcgarry and Mauricio Diaz battled like no other and in the end Billy couldn’t find the back-up he needed and left the door open for Mauricio, who would grab the win and a grip of goodies. The Juniors division was a one man show from the mini human Noah Schwiezer. He took the early lead and never looked back as he scooped up the $250.00 provided by Muscle Milk in the process. The Pro-Am division was loaded with talent from all over the East Coast, having 12 first round heats of competition. However, local hero Brian Toth stepped up in the final and left the beach $2,000.00 richer. " For further info pictures and a video of the event please visit http://www.volcom.com/crusty/EventArticle.asp?EventiD=782&SeasonID=28 Photos compliments of Kelly Puma!! BJSC

Dane Mackie and Burkie Bros shine at Barbados Junior Surfing Club’s Second Event

March 26^th 2011, South Point, CH CH, Barbados:

A promising East swell filled in to South Point for the second event of the Barbados Junior Surfing Club’s Burkie Junior Surf Series sponsored by Tile Gallery. The junior event shifted location from what was to be the Club’s first event at North Point to the opposite side of the island to take advantage of the great surf on tap at a familiar break to all the junior shredders. From a field of 30 junior surfers a number of familiar faces would stomp their mark on the final four of each division but some shifting in the ranks between contenders would be the order of the day as it was the day for Mackie and the Burkie Bros to shine.

In the Under 18 Open, Dane Mackie, who was electric on the day in his familiar home turf would out pace the field of finalists to earn the #1 spot on the BJSC’s premier league podium. The young goofy footer Mackie would slay the Point’s long chest high left with his vertical fins free attack to the loud cheers from the crowd on hand. The margin between second and fourth place was narrow as other familiar names in the division battled it out. With only 0.74 points between them the lone female finalist Chelsea Tuach would take second on the podium with Daniel Edghill and the ratings leader, Joshua Burke, in third and fourth respectively. The win launches Dane Mackie into second overall in the U18 Open rankings hot on the heels of Burke with only 70 points between them heading into the BJSC’s next event.

But it was another Burke name to shine brightly at South Point on the day as young Jacob “Manrat” Burke would take both the 10 & Under and 12 & Under divisions with solid front side slashes and vertical backside reos. Jacob launched his attack from the first wave of the 10 & Under final scoring the heat’s highest wave score and from that point could not be caught by the other finalists. Finishing second was the winner of the Club’s first event, Zander Venezia, and rising stars Yuri Scutt and Darrian Pitcher in third and fourth respectively. With two wins and two seconds between them Burke and Venezia now share the top spot in the division rankings.

Jacob would also rise on top of a close fought battle in the 12 & Under division where he would take down the division leader, and recurrent finalist, Che Allan, and third place Andrew Rose with only 0.56 wave score between them, Evan Moll would finish fourth having just returned from a finals berth in the Volcom Catfish Series in Puerto Rico.

The 14 & Under finals witnessed the narrowest margin of victory with Josh Burke edging Dane Mackie on a wave count back after a tied heat. With both competitors logging a two wave total of 12.50, Burke’s highest wave score of 7.67 earned him the division’s number one spot followed by Mackie, Che Allan and Daniel Edghill. Burkes aggressive hacks and aerial assault in the South Point theatre would also elevate him against the field of Under 16 competitors. The judges were rewarding the junior surfers who displayed the most vertical and progressive turns and Burke fit the bill. He would take the top spot over Daniel Edghill and move within 130 points of Edghill in the overall division rankings, third and fourth would belong to Dane Mackie and Che Allan respectively.

The Under 18 Girls would see familiar faces in their final ranks. Ratings leader Chelsea Roett would take her second win for the year displaying great flow between her backside hacks on the Point’s walls. Roett now extends her lead but is not out of striking distance from namesake Chelsea Tuach who follows close behind with two second place finishes for the season. Our younger girls and future flag bearers for Barbados’ female surfers, Isabella Venezia and Chelsie Grant, would finish third and fourth on the day. Isabella “Bella” would also take the top of the podium in the Under 12 Girls and lead the division in the Club’s series over second place Giselle Allan and Morgan Rice.

The Club now has a few weeks to wait before its next event the Family Fun Day on May 7^th 2011. However, there will be no rest for its junior surfers as a number of the Club’s young shining stars will be featuring in the Ron Jon Surf Festival in Cocoa Beach, Florida from 22-24^th April as well as representing Barbados in the Barbados Surfing Association team heading to the ISA World Junior Championships in Peru on May 21^st-29^th 2011. Our very own Chelsea Roett who is launching her bid on the Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) Junior Tour has been granted entry to attend the 4 Star Rob Machado Hurley Reef Junior Pro event in California at the end of April. The Club wishes those juniors great success - Ron Jons Surf Festival : Joshua Burke, Dane Mackie, Che Allan, Andrew Rose, Jacob Burke, Zander Venezia, Chelsea Tuach and Isabella Venezia; ISA World Junior Championships: Joshua Burke, Dane Mackie , Daniel Edghill, Che Allan, Caelum Blandford, Chelsea Tuach and Chelsea Roett; Rob Machado ASP 4 Star: Chelsea Roett.

About Us

The Barbados Junior Surfing Club was established in 2010 with a mission to develop junior surfing in Barbados. The Club assists its members in developing their surfing skills through structured surfing events, advice and training on matters such as surfing competition, judging and all other areas particular to the development of our sport in Barbados. The junior divisions that the Club runs at its surfing events are 10& Under, 12& Under, 14& Under, Under 16 and Under 18, as well as a division specifically for the 12& Under Girls and Under 18 Girls in our quest for our future Barbadian girls champions.

For further information please visit our website at http://www.bdosjuniorsurfing.org/ or our Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/bdosjuniorsurfing .

Results for BJSC Burkie Junior Surf Series – 2011 Event #2 - Sponsored by Tile Gallery

10 & UNDER 1 JACOB BURKE 2 ZANDER VENEZIA 3 YURI SCUTT 4 DARRIAN PITCHER

12 & UNDER 1 JACOB BURKE 2 CHE ALLAN 2 ANDREW ROSE 4 EVAN MOLL

12 & UNDER GIRLS 1 ISABELLA VENEZIA 2 GISELLE ALLAN 3 MORGAN RICE

14 & UNDER 1 JOSH BURKE 2 DANE MACKIE 3 CHE ALLAN 4 DANIEL EDGHILL

UNDER 16 1 JOSH BURKE 2 DANE MACKIE 3 DANIEL EDGHILL 4 CHE ALLAN

UNDER 18 GIRLS 1 CHELSEA ROETT 2 CHELSEA TUACH 3 ISABELLA VENEZIA 4 CHELSIE GRANT

UNDER 18 OPEN 1 DANE MACKIE 2 CHELSEA TUACH 3 DANIEL EDGHILL 4 JOSH BURKE