54 kids representing 11 countries spent their Sunday at Halfway Kuta Beach yesterday at the inaugural Grom Patrol Surf Training Camp and Comp, where in perfect waves they had a chance to have fun and learn how to be a better surfer and competitor, and win prizes from the many Grom Patrol sponsors that supported this new event series created by Tipi Jabrik.
Last Friday morning, 12 kids (6 boys, 6 girls) started their weekend at Jabrik’s Kosta Hostel, where they were then transported to Kuta Beach to begin their Training Camp with Dylan Amar and his Bali Elite Surf Coaching program. After two days of instruction and training, yesterday was their chance to put it all into practice at the Grom Patrol Surf Comp, which offered up 6 divisions of competition from 18 years old and under and was open to all.
During their training, the groms spent time learning about the International Surfing Association (ISA) Rules and Regulations regarding surfing competitions, like heat times, priority and more, then practical skills like wave selection, paddling techniques, physical training, and lot of practice time in the water in front of the video camera to evaluate their level of skill and experience, which was later analyzed both as a group and individually back at Kosta Hostel.
“It was such an amazing experience to be a part of the Grom Patrol here in Bali,” said 13 year old Georgie May. “The camp was so much fun, and I learned so much. The technical training definitely helped me out in the comp, and I came out with a great result!” Georgie finished second in the Under 14 Girls Division.
From the parents’ side, Manu Vaglio was very positive about the event, with his son Jamie barely missing making the final. “Jamie did great, he was in second place near the end of the semifinal but at the last minute another kid got a good wave and a big score so he ended in 3rd place,” explained Manu. “This event was so good, nice waves, nice people, nice competition, everything was perfect. I think grom comps are the basic foundation of surfing, so we need more of them. I’m bringing Jamie back for the other competitions for sure,” he added.
The Halfway Kuta Boardriders were the host of the competition, and were delighted with the conditions and the vibe. After the awarding, Garut Widiarta from HKB was asked for some words…”It was so rad to get waves like this today, Halfway really delivered and we’re all very stoked. I think this Grom Patrol event is so good for the kids, and I like to see more sponsors coming to support the kids. It’s so positive, you can see how happy these kids are! I’m so psyched to see the groms getting better and better. Hopefully more sponsors will care about the groms, as this is the future of surfing in Indonesia, so they need to help us look after the kids. With our boardriders, we do as much as we can with and are happy to help anyone, we’re wide open, to do events like this as many as possible,” he said.
Grom’s from Medewi Boardriders, Bingin Boardriders, Padma Boys, Halfways Kuta Boardrider and other boardriders clubs came to Kuta for the Grom Patrol #1 competition, and the expectation is that even more will be joining for Grom Patrol #2.
Dylan Amar from Bali Elite Surf Coaching was a very proud coach, as two of his girls won in their divisions yesterday, Mila in the Under 12’s and Serena in he Under 14’s, with Georgie May getting second place in the Under 14’s, and on the boy’s side, 10 years old Kahea came in second in the Under 12’ Boys. A great result for the first effort!
“It was great to see two of the girls win their divisions today, and several in the finals,” said Dylan. “They were all stoked today and we all had fun, but we focused on the competition as well, putting into practice things we’ve been working on the previous two days. I’m sure there will be a remarkable difference in all the groms that joined our BESC training comp when we watch the grand final of Grom Patrol 3 in a couple more weeks.”
Grom Patrol creator Tipi Jabrik was nothing if not gratified at the end of the day, saying, “Today, seeing the boys and girls ripping and having a good time, well, that’s a successful event for me for sure. My goal for this Grom Patrol series is that it will grow in the future as we get more kids to do it. It’s a fun event but really important to our youth, so I hope we can make Grom Patrol events not only here in Bali but in other parts of Indonesia and all around Asia in the future.”
To sign up for the next Grom Patrol Surf Training Camp & Comp on 12-14 July, please follow this link:
or for more information you may email Tom Chaminade at tomc@asiansurf.co
To watch the videos from Grom Patrol #1, click on the link below:
Grom Patrol #1 Results – you can see all the scores on Live Heats at https://www.liveheats.com/events/1875
Under 18 Boys
1. Ben Benson – 14.66 pts
2. Tenshi Ishii – 14.60 pts
3. Ryuki Waida – 9.70 pts
4. Adi Wisnu – 4.83 pts
Under 16 Boys
1. Made Joi – 13.34 pts
2. Lora Taufik – 5.67 pts
3. Nurhalim – 4.90 pts
4. Arman Atariri – 2.70 pts
Under 14 Boys
1. Agung Ade – 10.66 pts
2. Dwi Putrawan – 10.16 pts
3. Febri Angryawan – 7.50 pts
4. Made Noe – 6.30 pts
Under 14 Girls
1. Serena Boccato – 10.0 pts
2. Georgie May – 7.67 pts
3. Mathilda Lawani – 1.07 pts
4. Elvira Shvetsova – .90 pts
Under 12 Boys
1. Made Balon – 8.67 pts
2. Kahea Isshiki – 2.67 pts
3. Luke Smith – 2.50 pts
4. Ketut Ezel – .70 pts
A special thanks goes out to all the Grom Patrol sponsors below!
Tipi Jabrik’s Grom Patrol Surf Training Camp & Comp is generously supported by Quiksilver, Roxy, Billabong, Vissla, Carve, 69 Slam, Chilli Surfboards, S Shapes Surfboards, Sunzapper/Balin, Drifter Surf, FuWax, Shapers, Ades, FCS11, Bali, Swich, LaBaraca, Coca-Cola Amatil Indonesia, Bali Elite Surf Coaching, Kosta Hostel, and media support from Surfing Indonesia, Pemburu Ombok, BaliBelly.com, Meerkat Global, SurfTime Magazine, and Baliwaves.com
