Surfing for St. Paul’s Catholic College Manly students is serious business, many competitors wanting to pursue a career in the sport in the future. 6 students in particular are quickly emerging as elite surfers. The sport is definitely becoming more competitive and prominent both within and outside the school.
Davey Cathel’s of Year 10, whose favourite surfing spot is North Narrabeen, has recently returned after a trip to Brazil (in Marsies) as a member of Team Australia competing in the Quicksilver ISA World Junior Surfing Titles (Under 16s).
Cathels was placed 1st in the team event and came 9th individually. This team result only solidied the friendships and bond developed with his 11 fellow team members all from Australia’s east coast. “I really enjoyed spending time with the team. They are all nice people and it’s great to have a new circle of friends” said Cathels.
Matt Poul of Curl Curl and Max Brokman of Manly, both also of Year 10 at St. Paul’s have significant credentials recently coming 2nd in the State Schools Surfing final held at Ballina, amongst other achievements.
There are some common threads these surfers all agree on. “I love that surfing give me freedom and that I can switch off from reality” said Steve Ahrens of Year 10. Max Brokman added that what he finds attractive is “The fact that every wave is different and it gives you a sense of freedom”. “I hope to travel around the world” said Davey Cathels.
Long board and short board surfer Matt Hatton of Year 11 trained in Hawaii with world champion Barton Lynch earlier this year. You can’t do better than having the opportunity to learn from such an experienced and successful surfer. Hatton is currently at the State Longboard Titles held at Bonny Hills (hence being absent from the photo).
Family time is precious and through surfing coincidently all these students have found a way to do something positive whilst spending time with their dads in particular. Each of these students say their fathers have either introduced them to the sport or have been a huge influence by being heavily involved. Hatton’s sister and dad are also competing in the State Longboard Titles which really makes it a family affair. Tom Myers of Year 9 who came 1st at the Regional Titles in 2004 and 2006 agreed by saying “My Dad taught me to surf and I still love going out with him”.
Myers’ travel dreams are already becoming real. He has just been selected by Quicksilver to compete in the “World King of the Groms” tournament held in France this July. He will be absent from school for 2 weeks and says that he successfully juggles his school work and surfing by “communicating with his teachers and completing work before he goes away”. Hatton who is in his senior years at school has been absent many days due to his surfing commitments. His Design and Technology teacher Ms Alex Wheeler said “Matt is a committed student. He always approaches me before taking leave and we work together to establish what can be done whilst away in order to keep up to date”.
These students, who to the envy of friends, already have much of their travel expenses and surfing essentials provided for them by sponsors including Rip Curl, Gorilla Grip, FCS, Warner Surfboards (Cathels), Ocean & Earth, Smith Optics, Xcel Wetsuits, Reef Shoes, DHD Surfboards (Poul), Billabong, Von Zipper, DC Shoe co., Sol Life Surfboards, Future Fins, Creatures of Leisure and Wicks (Ahrens), Volcom, Smith Optics, Etnies Footwear, Aloha Surfboards, Future Fins (Brokman), Quicksilver, Creatures of Leisure (Myers).
