Surf League Round 3 Wrap

Sorrento beach was buzzing with energy for the third and final round of WA Surf League. Clear skies and light Westerly winds gave the usually flat Sorrento waters a slight wind chop, which athletes could use to their advantage in the water events.

With City of Perth and North Cottesloe tied on one Surf League round victory each, bragging rights were up for grabs and City of Perth rose to the occasion. City of Perth Red came through to take out the top honours for the day (75 points), beating their fellow athletes from City of Perth Yellow (60 points), and Trigg Island Red rounding out the top three with 57 points.

The day kicked off with Grand Final of the Male and Female Surf Boats, where North Cottesloe dominated in both the categories.

Moving back up to the beach, competitors sprinted and dived their way to secure top place in the beach arena. The Beach Flag Semi Finals kicked off the day, with Jackson Symonds (Sorrento) and Tom Nolan (North Cottesloe) battling it out all the way to the Grand Final, where Jackson took out the final flag. Gabby Murphy (City of Perth) was just as quick, securing first place in the Female’s Beach Flag Grand Final in a close battle with Brittany Houghton (City of Perth).

Jackson and Gabby went on to prove their athleticism, speed and agility in the second and final beach event for the day – the Beach Sprint – where both athletes took home the win in the Grand Final.

Back to the surf, we had some outstanding individual performances, with Ceris Graham (Trigg Island) winning both the Female Board and Female Ski Grand Finals by a large margin.

Tom Gallagher (City of Perth) secured the win in the Male Board Grand Final, before going head-to-head with Ben Jones (Trigg Island) in the Ironman, where Ben took out the title in a sprint finish.

City of Perth’s Jade Mickle topped off her incredible performances at Surf League with a first place in both the Ironwoman Grand Final and Surf Race Grand Final.

Those who couldn’t make it down to Sorrento were able to live steam all the action from home! Final results from the final round’s events are now available.

The overall series winners of each discipline have earned a spot on the Western Suns Open Elite Team, you can find out who is in the team here. The Team will travel to the final round of the professional Ocean 6 series at North Cronulla on 24th & 25th Feb.

North Cottesloe’s leading performance on the water in the Surf Boats has secured two of their teams, 6ft Stiffs (female) and Roberts (male), a subsidy to attend the ASRL Open 2018 in Elouera Sydney from Friday 16 to Sunday 18 February 2018.

The support for the inaugural WA Surf League has been phenomenal, and we are incredibly thankful for all those who have been involved, from the Clubs, Team Managers and their athletes, to the Officials and Water Safety, and everyone who supported the event by watching from home.

Phil Clayton Age Group Manager Development Session
Prior to the Nipper Clinic run by Phil Clayton down on the pristine shores of Sorrento, some of our Age Managers from Sorrento SLSC and Mullaloo SLSC took the opportunity to learn and upskill from the sports and coaching legend themselves.

The session involved a training room presentation and a practical session in the water and on the beach, with Phil’s great sense of humour keeping the group laughing while they learned innovative methods and new techniques.

Participants received some great resources to take back to their club to help implement changes to their Sunday Nipper programs.

Phil Clayton Takes On U10 & U11 Nippers
Almost 200 of our U10 and U11 Nippers were treated to a Nipper Clinic run by surf sports legend Phil Clayton. The Nippers broke up into four groups, and spent 20 minutes at each of the different stations, comprising of board, swim, flags and sprint lessons.

We would like to say a big thank you to the other Coaches who assisted with the session: Rob Innocent (Trigg Island), Lara Taylor (Trigg Island), Alexis Grayson (Coogee Beach) and Stevee Hudson (SLSWA).

Photos from the day can be downloaded and purchased via photographer Tony Bowers website.