Gizzy surfers at New Zealand scholastic surfing championships

The Tairāwhiti team to the New Zealand scholastics surfing championships left Gisborne at the weekend for Dunedin — (From left) James Fowell (coach), Jett Dalton, William Mathews. Lucy McDiarmid, Austin Fergus, Bonnie Lynch, Flynn McGregor, Charlotte McDiarmid, Max Gaddum, Te Waitou Fairlie, Ollie Tong, Max Phillips, Damon Gunness (manager), Oscar Gunness, Regan Fairlie (assistant coach) and Holly Quinn (female extraordinaire and manager).

A team of 12 from Tairawhiti will be in action this week at the NZ Scholastic Surfing Championships.

The team and their coaches and managers flew south to Dunedin over the weekend.

Male and female team members will surf in under 14, under 16 and under 18 divisions.

Businesses Tangaroa Soul Traders, Ray Scragg Motors and Sun People Co are sponsoring the trip.

The team has also been financially supported by East Coast Surf Riders through funders Grassroots Trust and Kiwi Gaming along with fundraising initiatives from The Boardroom and Kegged.

“Having organised and fundraised for this trip since March, it was a nervous wait on Friday to see if the event would still take place after Dunedin’s latest wet weather,” Tairawhiti surfing spokeswoman Holly Quinn said.

Races began at St Clair Beach on Monday and will run through until Friday.

“The flexible programme should help the more experienced surfers make the most of the bigger surf conditions expected during the week.”