Last week, GB Surfing hosted a Home Nations junior training camp at Surf Experience Lagos for eight of the UK’s most promising young surfers.

As part of its commitment to developing and raising the overall technical ability of talented young surfers in the UK, the camp was heavily subsidised by GB Surfing for all the surfers involved to ensure it was fully accessible.

Joel Gray, GB Surfing’s Performance Pathway Manger, ran the camp and provided the below report:

The aim of the camp was to provide some of our best UK Juniors with an opportunity to get out of mid-winter Britain and into a week of training in quality European waves.

There are few better places in the world than Portugal in January and we enjoyed a week of sunny weather, offshore winds and pumping swell with zero crowds. It was also another opportunity for the Home Nation Coaches to work together on implementing some of the work that has been going on behind the scenes and a chance to input the feedback from the recent ISA World Junior Games.

The daily routine involved two classroom sessions and two surfing sessions – one being performance markers technique focussed and the other contest surfing heats. During the surfing sessions we incorporated Liveheats and the use of priority to replicate competition and give the juniors a more realistic, competitive and pressured training experience.  We were stoked with the learning environment that was created and we’re confident that the surfers involved not only improved but crucially have a heightened awareness of how to develop their surfing going forward.

We’ve been incredibly impressed by the five Home Nation coaches, and it was great to spend some extended quality time on the beach and in the classroom with them, and to see the impact they are already having on the juniors. Here is what they had to say:

Jake Powell – CISF Junior Head Coach

“The use of Liveheats and using priority added a real touch of professionalism to the daily contest heat structure. This drove the athletes to surf even better. I feel we now have an amazing baseline for how to run successful training camps going forward.”

Emily Williams – WSF Junior Head Coach

“It was so good to get some of the best juniors in GB together for a training camp in Portugal. The surf was pumping, they pushed themselves every day and seeing the development throughout the week was awesome.”

Craig Sutherland -SSF Junior Head Coach

“It was great to see the progression and attitude displayed by these young surfers. They all pushed each other in both technical and competitive surfing while having fun in the environment created by GB Surfing and the Home Nation coaches. I’m really excited to see how far these surfers can go and to help assist them on their journey.”

Beau Bromham – SE Junior Head Coach

“One of the best camps I’ve been involved with and without doubt one of the best trips for waves I’ve ever known! The range of conditions we got allowed the juniors to push themselves in everything from waist to well overhead surf. I feel the input was pretty bang on too, enough to keep everyone focussed but also have fun. A recipe for success.”

The surfers were selected by the Home Nations collaboratively based on national event data and performances at the recent ISA World Junior Championships in Brazil.

Arthur Randell (England)

“One of my favourite trips so far. What a group of boys! We scored a variety of waves and some sick weather. Coaching was well good; so good to be able to go back to base and look through everyone’s clips. Seeing your surfing from someone else’s perspective really opens up your thinking. I really liked having heats every day before or after the technical surfs. This is what keeps us boys fired up. Definitely really competitive towards the end, simulating a real contest environment. This is what I most enjoyed.”

Anders Ravenscroft (Channel Islands)

“I absolutely loved the trip. Top level training and we scored empty waves with a sick group of people.”

Craig Mclachlan (Scotland)

“We scored super good waves, and it was amazing to surf with all the best juniors in the UK. Comp surfing everyday was really helpful and the consistency allowed us to all strategise and push our competitive surfing.”

Fynn Gillespie (England)

“Getting coached by coaches from the different home nations was an amazing opportunity.”

Noah Davis (England)

“Everyone was surfing at such a high level during the training camp, and I feel like I learnt a lot from the heat drills we were doing. Being in an environment with so many good surfers was amazing and everyone ripping definitely pushed my surfing and made me try harder.”

Malakai Hagley (England)

“Surfing a variety of waves with some of the best junior surfers and GB coaches is exactly what’s needed to help push each other and take everyone’s surfing to the next level. It’s pretty exciting to see where the level of Surfing from GB is going.”

Elliot Barton (Wales)
“So stoked to be part of the crew in Portugal. Great training with different coaches from all over the country and have their input. Also it was great to do some mock heats with the boys, it was an excellent challenge! The Surf Experience house was very welcoming and fantastic food was served to energise the team. Can’t wait to join in on the next trip!”