Maverick Wilson and Willow Hardy lead charge at State Junior Surf Titles at Geraldton

Geraldton will host the third and final stop on this year’s State Junior Surfing Titles this weekend as Capes surfers prepare to dominate.

About 100 junior surfers aged between nine and 17 will converge for the final weekend of competition to determine who will represent WA at the Australian Junior Surfing Titles to be held in Queensland later this year.

Leading the pack will be local teens Maverick Wilson and Willow Hardy, who have already captured State titles in the under-16 boys and under-16 girls, cementing their spots on the WA team.

Hardy, along with Denmark-based charger Isi Campbell, are also fresh off their performance representing Team Australia at June’s ISA World Junior Surfing Championship in El Salvador.

Surfing WA events manager Justin Majeks said the junior titles were a “nursery for WA talent” which had stoked the fire in local surfers including Jack Robinson, Taj Burrow, Bronte Macaulay and Jacob Willcox.

“All excelled in the State Junior Titles in the past and forged a path forward for WA’s new generation of surfing stars,” he said.

“Geraldton is an ideal surfing destination at this time of year,” Majeks said.

“We’re very much looking forward to crowning our remaining State Junior Champions and I’m excited to see how much the kids have sharpened their skills over the school holidays.”

Surfing WA’s high-performance surf coaches would also be on hand again to provide mentoring, guide heat preparation and offer video analysis as part of the development of WA’s newest generation of surfing stars.

Many surfers will also be sharpened by last week’s competition at the Occy Grom Comp on the Gold Coast and SkullCandy Oz Grom Open at Lennox Heads.

Five State champion positions are still up for grabs in the under-18 boys, under-18 girls, under-14 boys, under-14 girls and under-12 micro-groms divisions.

Surfing WA will live-stream heat scores and results all weekend via www.surfingwalive.com.au.