BRITISH JUNIOR SURF TEAM MAKE FINAL PLEA

Two days to go and £10K shortfall

With only two days to go until the British Junior Surf team head out to represent their country at the prestigious World Surfing Championships in Portugal, the members of the squad are making a last minute plea to the UK surf industry and related businesses to help provide the invaluable funding they need for the trip.
This weekend saw members of the squad take matters into their own hands as they headed to Newquay’s Morrison’s supermarket to help shoppers bag up their groceries, raising £170, and last night’s British Surfing Association organised emergency raffle/auction at Newquay’s Chy Bar raised over £500.
Last week saw Newquay’s Headland Hotel stepping in with a generous £1,000 donation and surf company Stephnheel has also just announced that they will contribute another £300 to the cause. Surf brand Gul has come forward to provide the team’s kit for the tour, Simon Tucker has donated Soulsurfers flip flops & Bubblegum wax and Reef will be donating shoes for all of the team members. A number of local Cornish businesses and surf brands including Hurley, Island Style, Quiksilver, Billabong, Etnies, Hair Stop, Northcore, Ollypop, IndoBoard, The Chy Bar, Soundworx, Freaks, Pitpilot, Skinners Brewery, Extreme Drinks and Stepnheel kindly supported last night’s auction with donations.

However sadly the overall shortfall is still in the region of £10,000. The team themselves, largely made up of Cornish schoolchildren, are now making a final plea for any form of finance that will help support their commitment to the trip. The BSA will be sending a full team of 12 surfers selected from Britain’s best young surfing talent, plus four coaching staff to the championships.
Britain is one of 40 nations to be competing in the Quiksilver World Junior Surfing Championships in Costa Da Caparica, Portugal and this will be the third time Britain has sent a full team to the Junior World Championship. With last year’s British medal haul including a silver at the World Surfing Games, a British European Junior Champion and a two world champion kneeboarders, Britain is on a definite roll on the global surfing stage.
Karen Walton, director at the BSA, said: “No-one can deny that it is a tragedy that it has come to these measures to find the funding for these Juniors to represent their country. It has always been a major challenge to persuade brands to support a team rather than their own chosen individuals but if we cannot make up the shortfall, we will be in a situation of having to ask the participants and their parents to help cover their costs. We are incredibly grateful to the companies and individuals who have provided the much needed finance and donations thus far and everyone will be hugely appreciative of any final contributions that can be made at this late stage.”