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Currently competing in the 2016 Billabong Junior Series event in Ballito is young Calvin Goor from Durban. It has been quite a run for the natural-footed surfer of late, with some great results and experiences for the 15-year-old.
He was invited to compete in the South African Surfing Legends’ coaching series, the Future Legends Coaching Series. This took place over three weekends in Durban and was an intense program of surfing, on-land coaching, video analysis and secondary training such as fitness, diet, sports psychology and the works.
Calvin ended up winning his division, and the massive prize was a wildcard slot into the JBU Supertrial presented by RVCA, the trails event for the JBay Open Championship Tour event at Supertubes in Jeffreys Bay.
Calvin was the youngest surfer to compete in this event and although he didn’t manage a finals berth, the experience of competing against the best surfers in the country was invaluable to the up-and-coming surfer.
After this, Calvin was then included in the newly formed High Performance Surfing Academy in Durban as part of his prize, and he was put through his paces for four days, under the watchful eyes of coaching director Bruce Jackson. He surfed heats, went to talks with dieticians and physiotherapists and went through equipment checks and tutorials as part of this intense program.
“Calvin is a very dedicated surfer, and he has determination and the will to win,” said the High Performance Surfing Academy’s Jason Ribbink. “He was a pleasure to have attending the Academy, and he is one of the guys who will benefit greatly from the correct coaching and training.”
Calvin knows the waves of Durban well, having grown up in the neighbourhood, and is adept at surfing the waves of Willard Beach in Ballito. He is a natural-footed surfer, and will thus be surfing facing the wave on the right-handers of Ballito. This, combined with local knowledge, will see Calvin with a distinct advantage over many of his fellow competitors.
Now, after all the training and coaching, Calvin finds himself currently competing in the Billabong Junior Series event taking place in Ballito. This event is a precursor to the Ballito Pro presented by Billabong, a World Surf League Qualifying Series 10,000 event, with top surfers from all over the world attending. As one of the top seeds and with all the training behind him, it will be great to see how he progresses through the Billabong Junior Series event. The top two finishers in the U18 boys’ event will be awarded prestigious wildcards into the SSA Ballito Pro Trials presented by Billabong on Sunday 26 June at the same venue. The all-South African 32-man trials event will determine the last remaining spot in the R4 million, QS10, 000 rated Ballito Pro presented by Billabong.
For more on the Billabong Junior Series in Ballito go to http://theballitopro.com/
Photos by Luke Patterson
