Words by Jeannie Castle, Billabong South Africa.

The girls, their mums, dads and grannies all took part in the yoga lessons and volley ball. There was one point in the day that I sat back and was overwhelmed by everything that had developed and was occurring at the same time; there were girls learning to surf, girls playing volley ball, Marius and Dene (the commentators) getting girls to run to the water, dance and play in the sand, the top surfers in the country paddling out… Hey, it was all happening.

It was also so exciting to see the courage and confidence that all these girls had, whether it was trying to surf for the first time, competing for the first time or battling it out against the country’s top surfers. They all gave it their best and eloquently faced the disappointment of perhaps not standing straight away (for the novices) or winning the competition.

It was also so inspiring watching the girls make friends and interact with each other. The older girls and brilliant surfers like Rosanne Hodge, Nikita Robb and Tammy-Lee Smith all played with the younger girls and I also saw them coaching the novices, encouraging them to paddle out and showing them which waves to catch.

I think that there is so much potential for these girls’ events, as girls are so dynamic and open to trying new activities, as well as making new friends. This event was most definitely not one dimensional and just a surfing competition…

I am sure that our next event in Margate will be even more fantastic…