Bay of Plenty Times
  • Bay of Plenty Times home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Sport
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Sport

Locations

  • Coromandel & Hauraki
  • Katikati
  • Tauranga
  • Mount Maunganui
  • Pāpāmoa
  • Te Puke
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Thames
  • Tauranga
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Bay of Plenty Times / Sport

Surfing: Groms to get their groove on

Bay of Plenty Times
29 Jan, 2013 09:15 PM4 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

The 2013 Billabong Grom Series springs into action this weekend at Mount Maunganui with the first of three events in the renowned series for junior surfers under the age of 16 (groms).

With the three event locations locked down, Mount Maunganui gets the show underway before the series heads to Whangamata (February 23-24) and finishes at Piha (March 9-10).

Newly crowned national champion in the Under-16 boys division, Korbin Hutchings (formerly of Gisborne), will return from Australia, where he currently resides, to compete at the event.

"I like coming back and seeing everyone and seeing how everyone is surfing, it is always fun," said Hutchings of his return. After winning his title on Saturday, the energetic natural foot surfer returned to Australia to take in a few days of school and get his year off to a good start.

"I didn't want to stay in New Zealand and miss the start of school then come back and not have my classes sorted and be a complete shambles," said Hutchings.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Hutchings won the title, his first, at Piha in big surf, and he couldn't be happier with the crown. The event this weekend could also see sizeable surf as a low pressure system bears down on the East Coast of New Zealand during the middle of this week.

With the event being so early in the year, all of the groms reshuffle and find their position in the pecking order after a number of surfers move up a division. Hutchings will face off against local favourite Kehu Butler who has been impressive, himself picking up a title at the national champs in the Under-14 boys division. The two surfers will be joined by in-form Harrison Whiteside (Chch), Taylor Hutchison (Rag), who placed in the final at the nationals along with Manu Scott-Arrieta (Sandy Bay), Isaac Kettle (Tara) and Tane Bowden (WGM).

Bowden still qualifies for the youngest age group at the event, the Under-12 boys division. Despite towering above most of his opponents, Bowden is happy to have another year left in the division but he hopes to do well in the older age groups as well if he gets that chance.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"My goal is to win the Under-14s and the Under-12s this year," said Bowden, who rates the surf at the Mount because "it is similar to Whangamata where I live, but not as good," he said cheekily.

The Under-16 girls division is shaping up to be a testing encounter with newly crowned national champion Dayna Story (Gis) focussed on the series after a stellar performance at the New Zealand Championships.

"I am stoked with how things went at the nationals and I am looking forward to the Billabongs this year," said Story. "The nationals win was my biggest goal and I did heaps of work toward that and it paid off so I aim to continue along the same path [this] weekend."

Story, along with New Zealand Junior Surfing squad representatives Jasmine Smith (Gis), Claudia Fraser (Piha) and Kea Smith (Mount), will have national selection deep in the back of their minds heading into the first Billabong Grom Series event. The four surfers are vying for only two places on the New Zealand team when it is announced on March 26. A second win on the trot for Story would help her cause immensely, while a win from any of the other girls would also see their stocks rise.

"It is definitely in the back of my mind, it has been the biggest goal of mine for years," said Story. "Competition is pretty intense at the moment, though, and we are all having a good battle with each other."

The 2013 Billabong Grom Series is the ninth year it has been held.

Many budding surfers have progressed through the series from the age of 10 through to 16 before the exit into older age brackets.

This year all the entrants will be aided by elite surfing coach Matt Scorringe, who will be at the event to give everyone guidance each morning before the event starts, as well as being set up throughout the day to give the groms tips on how they can improve technically and competitively.

Many groms will be competing in their first national event.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Sport

Bay of Plenty Times

New home for Tauranga netball: $14m Baypark plan progresses

Bay of Plenty Times

Baywide rugby: Whaka look to break 19-year drought

Bay of Plenty Times

Netball: Magic narrowly lose to Pulse after scores still tied in final minutes


Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Sport

New home for Tauranga netball: $14m Baypark plan progresses
Bay of Plenty Times

New home for Tauranga netball: $14m Baypark plan progresses

The new facility will include a new building plus 14 asphalt and nine cushioned courts.

14 Jul 07:00 PM
Baywide rugby: Whaka look to break 19-year drought
Bay of Plenty Times

Baywide rugby: Whaka look to break 19-year drought

14 Jul 05:17 AM
Netball: Magic narrowly lose to Pulse after scores still tied in final minutes
Bay of Plenty Times

Netball: Magic narrowly lose to Pulse after scores still tied in final minutes

14 Jul 04:28 AM


Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

06 Jul 09:47 PM
NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Bay of Plenty Times e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Bay of Plenty Times
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP