7 July 2012, Kuta-Bali: Bali’s Kuta Beach was jam-packed with action today for the start of the annual Quiksilver King of the Groms South East Asian Final, with over 80 under-16-year-old boy grommets taking to the waves at Halfways to compete for their place in tomorrow’s run for the coveted “King of the Groms” SEA title, and 16-under-16-year-old girls joining up for their first-ever Roxy Jam in Indonesia.
In perfect weather conditions and with 2-3 foot waves on offer, a frothing mix of boy and girl groms from Indonesia, Australia, Brazil, Japan, the USA, and a few other countries gathered on the beach to hang out, have a fun day in the sun, and do a little competing to see who could catch the best waves, impress the judges, and get through their heats so they could come back tomorrow and do it all again in the race for the final.
Last year’s King of the Groms SEA Final had 78 contestants, and this year’s signups trumped that by a significant margin, due primarily to the addition of the Roxy Jam that added 16 girls to the 81 boys, making for a record setting 97 entries. There were so many contestants signing up that 8 trial heats had to be run in order to parse down the boy’s field for the 64-man heat draw.
This resulted in a very full day of surfing, as the trial heats got underway at just after 8:30am, and it took until 5:00 pm to complete Round 3 of the boys and the semifinals of the girls to set things up for the finals tomorrow.
Of course there was the serious side of the competition, as there is the significant prize of the KOG crown, the trip to France to compete in the KOG International Final, and a brand new Yamaha motorbike at stake, but it was the camaraderie and fun that was the most evident during the day, as the kids ate their lunch from banana leave wrappers, had lots of water and juice to drink, and did fun stuff like dressing up in Sumo outfits and wrestling on the beach, dragging Coca-Cola trash cans around the beach picking up trash, cheering and razzing their friends who either lost or won their heats, and of course going out and tearing up some waves!
On the list of standouts in the boy’s competition today were Riski Eka, Rio Waida and his brother Ryuki, along with Komang Sastrawan and Raju Sena. Last year’s runner up Angga Bayu and equal third finisher Jeren Kering both made their heats today to advance to the man on man Round 4, so look for an exciting finale as these future superstars light up Kuta Beach with their best ever performances in search of the King of the Groms crown.
In the Roxy Jam after six heats of fun waves in the hot Kuta sun the finalists were decided, and it looks to be Taina Izquiredo, Kailani Johnson, Cinta Hansel, and Julika meeting tomorrow to decide who will get the number one spot on the podium.
Of special mention today was the fact that 9-year-old Jack Potter, 1989 World Champion Martin “Pottz” Potter’s son, surfed in his very first contest heat today at Kuta Beach, after only surfing for about the last 2 months!
After his heat he this to share about his experience and also some advice to the other competitors, saying, “In the King of the Groms the most important thing is to have the most fun you can in your heat, like I did…I was just thinking happy things. Don’t think like ‘oh this is going to be really hard’….just think, ‘I’m here to have fun!”
His father had this to add; “Jack just competed in his first proper heat and he did really well, I’m super proud of him. I think it’s really healthy for the kids to hang out with kids their own age, and to learn the ropes of competitive surfing, as it gets them adjusted for what’s coming later in life. The whole spirit of the King of the Groms isn’t about winning, its about mixing it up with your friends, having some fun, getting some waves, swapping stories, and swapping cultures by meeting kids from all over the world. It’s really good to get Jack involved with it.”
Potter along with Quiksilver surfing legends Mark Richards, Tom Carroll, Matt Hoy, and Jake Paterson are again attending the King of the Groms in Bali this year, and tomorrow they will all be hanging out at the beach cheering on the groms and signing posters as well as competing in a fun Locals vs Legends surf competition on Sunday afternoon.
The King of the Groms SEA Final is being held during the 2nd annual Bali’s Big Eco Weekend, a combined effort on the part of Coca-Cola Amatil Indonesia and Quiksilver Indonesia to educate the local and national public and heighten the awareness of the environmental issues facing Bali today.
Tomorrow will see an afternoon conclusion to the King of the Groms event with the action starting at 8 am, so don’t miss out on the biggest surfing event of the year so far on Kuta Beach. Tell all your friends and favorite people to come on down and enjoy all the action with you.
Follow the action on www.isctour.com/events/kog12 to see live scoring, photos, videos and more during and after each day’s competition, as well on Facebook check out Indonesian Surfing Championship and Quiksilver Indonesia.
The Quiksilver King of the Groms 2011 is presented by Coke Zero and supported by Yamaha, with media partners Now Bali!, Now Jakarta!, TRAX, FHM, Esquire, Fitness for Men, Bali & Beyond, Kaskus, Hard Rock FM Bali, Dreambox, BAM, Lines Magazine, Surfersvillage.com, SurfTime Magazine, Magic Wave Surf Community Newspaper, Balibelly.tv, Baliwaves.com, RVM Alam TV Bali., and the Outdoor Channel, and assisted in the Coca-Cola ISC’s “Keepin’ it Green” program by GUS, the ROLE Foundation, and Climate Wave.
The Quiksilver King of the Groms 2012 is a Grade 2 Coca-Cola Indonesian Surfing Championship sanctioned Junior Division event, with the Coca-Cola ISC Junior Division members receiving points towards their 2011 Coca-Cola ISC Junior Division Championship ranking.
Media Contacts:
Quiksilver SEA
Ni Putu Purniati
Marketing Manager Quiksilver
Coca-Cola ISC Tour
Tim Hain – Media and Communications
