Grommets, surfing term for riders 15 years old and below, took over the waves of San Juan La Union in the first staging of the Billabong Grommet Competition last November 30-Dec 1.
Fifty four top young riders from Lanuza, Siargao, Daet, Samar, Baler and Pagudpud ages 10-15 years old awes the judges as well as the sponsors present during the event with their combination of tricks which is already at par with the skills of the older surfers.
“They are so good. They even did tricks which some of the older surfers cannot do. Pwede na silang ilaban sa age group namin,” exclaimed Luke Landrigan, the country's most famous surfer, and also the brains behind the event.
Thirteen year old Peter Alipayo, the youngest among the three Alipayo brothers who participated in the event won the top prize with his combination of double snaps, floats over a section and air tops. The riders are scored based on the type of waves that they ride, from poor to excellent which has a corresponding numerical value of 1-10. They are also judged based on their critical moves, combination of tricks and sizes of the waves.
The voluble second year high school student from Siargao has no expectations of winning when he, together with team from Siargao was flown over to San Juan through the financial back-up of Billabong. Asked what is that he needs to be able to be better, Pitpit, as he is fondly called, said “Board lang, masaya na ako (only the board and I will be so happy) ”.
It is actually his first time to win the championship title since he started surfing seven years ago, and luckily, he got what he and his brothers had been dreaming of, their own surf board, as well as other surfing stuff from Billabong, Alohoa Board Sports, Beach Hut, Sticky Bumps and StokedInc.
Other winners includes Philmar Alipayo (Siargao), placing 3rd, Jerome Paraon of Baler in the 2nd place, Pete Catulay of Siargao, 1st place. Three lucky young rides were immediately signed up for sponsorship from Aloha Board Sports.
“We are very happy that the gromms are taking all the attention in this event because they are usually just on the sideline. We want to keep these kids motivated because they are the future of surfing in the country and they would continue the legacy of the sports,” said Manfred Ruiz, who represented Billabong's top man Jevi Borromeo.
Landrigan, meanwhile hopes to double the participation of the kids in the next competition. “When they are in the competition, nagpapagalingan at nagpapataasan sila ng wave na kinukuha (they want to outdo each other). I want them to raise their level with each and every competition,” added the 25 year old owner of San Juan Surfing School, who also sponsored the food and accommodation of the kids along with other resorts in San Juan.
Surfing was introduced in San Juan, La Union, in the 1980's through some Japanese and German surfers who discovered the place to be a good surfing spot. Since then, surfing has become one of the fastest growing sports in the country. Joncy Sumulong, one of the organizers of the event hopes that they would be able to build a wider market for surfing and tap major sponsors to be able to help the local surfers who cannot afford to buy their own boards.
The 1st Billabong Grommet Competition was also supported by StokedInc., Aloha Board Sports, Sticky Bumps, Partas Bus Line, Billabong San Juan Surf School and the local government of San Juan, La Union.
