Surfs up at Crown land holiday park

The Crown land holiday park at Forster will host the cream of junior surfing talent on 7-8 December when the Reflections Cadet Cup surfing competition is held at Nine Mile Beach.

Reflections Holidays, a Crown Land Manager which reinvests all profits into its 40 holiday parks and the 45 community reserves it cares for in coastal and inland NSW, has partnered with Surfest to host a series of Cadet Cup events.

Minister for Sport, Lands and Property, Steve Kamper, said it was great to see Crown land holiday parks hosting the Cadet Cup to support junior sport and regional businesses through tourism.

“Reflections Holidays manages coastal holiday parks on Crown land in some of NSW’s best surf locations so its match-up with Surfest to host the Cup is a win-win for both sport and tourism,” Mr Kamper said.

The inaugural Reflections Cadet Cup was held in February 2024 at Bonny Hills before expanding to include the Tuncurry competition on December 7-8.

Both competitions are rated events on the Surfing Australia Junior Surfing Series, with competitors earning points to progress into the national junior rankings.

Reflections CMO Pete Chapman said the Reflections Cadet Cup offered competitors and tourists the chance to enjoy the action beachside and connect outdoors with the community.

“We believe that life’s better outside and we exist to connect our guests with nature and create experiences for them, and the Cadet Cup really meets all of our goals in that sense,” Mr Chapman said.

Forster brothers Lakey, 9, and Aloha Haddon, 8, will be among the competitors at the Tuncurry event, hoping their local knowledge of Nine Mile beach might assist.

The Haddon siblings come from strong pedigree: their father Joe, a proud Worimi man and Forster Boardriders member, being a four-time winner of Surfest’s Wandiyali ATSI Indigenous Classic. Surfest director Warren Smith said Nine Mile would provide challenging and rewarding conditions for the event’s 75 entrants in boys and girls Under 12s, 14s and 16s categories.

“The debut Reflections Cadet Cup at Bonny Hills was such a fantastic event and we’re really excited to be expanding the cup into this second competition at Nine Mile,” Mr Smith said.

“These regional events are really the breeding ground for the development of youth surfing to build national champions and we’re thrilled to be partnering with Reflections again on this second event in the Cadet Cup calendar.”