Surf is up for young Northlander Indi-Lee Ruddell representing New Zealand in world junior comp

A young Northland surfer is eager and excited to be representing New Zealand in the World Junior Surfing Championships in May.

Indi-Lee Ruddell (Te Rarawa, Te Ātiawa) will be heading to El Salvador’s Surf City for the competition, run by the International Surfing Association (ISA).

The 14-year-old will compete in the under-16 girls division, after surfing her way to success in New Zealand’s junior series held on beaches nationwide.

She secured the spot with a division win at Auckland’s Piha on February 24 and 25, in the third and final event of the Billabong Grom Series presented by Oceanbridge.

The strong natural-foot surfer attacked the Piha close-outs all day and set herself up nicely in the final when she scored seven points out of 10 on her first wave, putting all her opponents on the back foot.

Indi-Lee said she approached the season with the aim of simply improving her surfing, and the world selection happened without planning.

“It didn’t really settle in until about two days after, and then I was just so excited to be representing the country.”

She aimed to go to the competition as well prepared as she could be, including surfing as much as possible: “Any days there’s waves, we’ll go out.”

Training includes exercising if there’s no surf and doing surf coaching for beginners that doubles as a fundraiser for the trip.

The Whangārei Girls’ High School student started surfing at the tender age of 4, after growing up in the ocean and seeing both her parents surf.

Mum Renee has previously held senior women’s national titles and dad Jason is a previous national junior coach.

Indi-Lee entered her first competition aged 8, surfing in the North Coast Boardriders’ Polar Bear Classic, held each year at Whangārei’s Sandy Bay.

Indi-Lee Ruddell, of Whangārei Girls' High School, says her favourite waves are Ahipara's Shipwreck Bay and Taranaki's Stent Rd. Photo / PhotoCPL

In the same competition last year, she won both the open women and under-16 girls divisions.

Indi-Lee said she decided to start doing the New Zealand grom series several years ago to both improve her surfing and meet new people.

“Trying to find people to surf with as a girl is hard because there’s not many girls who surf,” she said. “I feel like they don’t go into the ocean or they always do other sports, not surfing.”

She encouraged girls to get on a surfboard and have a go: “It’s kind of really addictive — you can’t stop after you’ve started catching waves.”

Now she has qualified, the race is on to fundraise the $8000 needed to get her to El Salvador, including a Givealittle page being set up.

While Indi-Lee is the only Northlander going to the world champs, several fellow Northland surfers have also found success in this year’s season.

In the New Zealand Women’s Surf Festival at Pāuanui on March 2 and 3, Ahipara’s Jade Phillips won the under-14 girls division and Whangārei’s Isla McKay placed second. Renee Ruddell was third in the over-30 women’s division and Whangārei’s Portia Olney-Kemp placed fourth in the women’s longboard.

At the Piha event where Indi-Lee won the under-16 girls division, Isla McKay won the under-14 girls division.

Jade Phillips also found success at the second Billabong Grom Series event at Whangamata on February 10 and 11, winning the under-14 girls division. She also placed third in the same division in the National Surfing Championships in Dunedin in January.

Cooper Ashill, of Ocean Beach, was fourth in the under-18 boys division in the first Billabong Grom Series event, at Mount Maunganui in January.

Denise Piper is a news reporter for the Northern Advocate, focusing on health and business. She has more than 20 years in journalism and is passionate about covering stories that make a difference.