Sizzling teen form in debut Cadet Cup

The state’s best teen surfers converged on the Crown land holiday park at Bonny Hills on the Mid North Coast at the weekend for the inaugural Reflections Cadet Cup surfing competition.

Crown land holiday park manager Reflections hosted the event in partnership with Surfest, attracting 76 competitors over two days to compete in under 12s, under 14s and under 16s boys and girls categories.

Minister for Sport, Lands and Property, Steve Kamper, said it was great to see the debut Cadet Cup draw the cream of teen surfers to the area, boosting patronage of local businesses and tourism services.

“The fact that there was such strong demand for entries for the inaugural Reflections Cadet Cup shows just how healthy surfing is as a sport and how important events like this are to regional communities,” Mr Kamper said.

“Reflections manages holiday parks on Crown land in popular surfing locations on both the north and south coast. This partnership with Surfest was a great opportunity to support the growth of youth surfing and regional tourism.”

Reflections CEO Nick Baker said the Cup, which included the competition alongside an ‘Eats and Beats’ zone with food trucks and music for the community to enjoy, had been a resounding success that the organisation was proud to stage.

“As the largest holiday group in NSW, partnering with Surfest, the biggest surfing festival in the Southern Hemisphere, was a no-brainer, with both of us placing great value on the great outdoors and connecting communities in nature, as we’ve seen here this weekend,” Mr Baker said.

Surfest co-ordinator Warren Smith said the Reflections Cadet Cup had drawn a highly competitive field in the teen ranks and witnessed history in the making with the surf talent at Rainbow Beach.

“The whole weekend was a fantastic showcase for these young surfers who will be tomorrow’s champions, and the night-time entertainment on this most wonderful stretch of the NSW coastline was the icing on the cake,” Mr Smith said.

“There’s been so much good feedback from competitors, their families and locals that organisers have already started talking about how it’s going to be a challenge to make the Reflections Cadet Cup even better in 2025.”

Event winners were: Maverick Macgugan (North Avalon) in the under 12 Boys category; Coco Woolley (Boomerang Beach) in the under 12 Girls category; Hamish Harrigan (Coffs Harbour) in the under 14 Boys category; Mali Adam (Merewether and Port Macquarie surfboard clubs) in the under 14 Girls category; Joey Silk (Crescent Head) in the under 16 Boys category; Chelsea Darling (Hat Head) in the under 16 Girls category.