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Having a surfboard shaper as a dad is always going to help you along the way if you want to be a good surfer. Getting the right boards underfoot is one of the biggest challenges that a young surfer will face as he or she finds his way around early surfing days. Tide-Lee Ireland’s dad, Elton-Lee Ireland has been making great boards for his son for a number of years now, and those boards have helped him along the way to a great budding surfing career.
Growing up in Durban is also very conducive to a rapidly improving skill set, with consistent waves all year, warm water, and not too many people at most times of the year. Tide-Lee can be found on most days hunting down the waves on the town beachfront, whether it be New Pier or North, backline or bowls, or any other little banks or rips that open up along the way. Snake Park and Bay Of Plenty often have a little fun wave, even in onshore conditions, for Tide-Lee to have some fun, fins-free action. Being a goofy-footer, Tide-Lee doesn’t mind if it’s left or right, high tide or low. As long as there is something to ride, he’s out there.
Another factor that has come into play of late is the fact that in Durban there is the High Performance Surfing Academy, of which Tide Lee is a member. The High Performance Surfing Academy (HPSA) is a coaching academy that has been growing in strength and stature, as more of their students start doing better in their events and in their surfing performances. The HPSA was introduced by the South African Surfing Legends and with the input of legends like Shaun Tomson, Bruce Jackson, Jason Ribbink, Peter Lawson and Paul Canning amongst others, the HPSA has been involved with some great development of junior surfers.
Tide-Lee has also learned much about the art of competitive surfing, from wave selection and equipment usage, wave judgment, heat time management as well as the need for understanding the judging criteria on the day at each event, as well as, obviously, the need for progressive surfing and combinations of moves to get those big scores.
Tide-Lee showed all the work has been paying off by getting the highest score of the day on day two of the Billabong Junior Series Final at Seal Point, Cape St Francis by cracking a 9.7 out of a possible 10 points for a score that will most likely not be beaten at the event this year.
Photo by Kody Mcgregor
