How-to-surf tips from Whangamatā junior girl ripper

EYE TO THE LIP: Whangamata's Pia Rogers surfed her way to the finals in the 2020 Scholastics Surfing Championship in Kaikoura. Photo / Cory / NZ Surfing Magazine.

Whangamatā 14-year-old Pia Rogers is building a solid reputation in the waves with her performances on New Zealand's junior competition circuit.

The Hauraki-Coromandel Post asked her about the competition experience and sought some tips for youngsters keen to have a go at surfing themselves.

Q - How did you start out in the sport?
"I've been surfing since age 8, I started off in Noosa, Australia where I lived and would surf Tea Tree Pt. I only really starting surfing regularly three years ago when I started doing comps. My dad Justin grew up in Whangamatā and both my sets of grandparents live here. I went down to the beach some days and started surfing."

Q - Please describe the scholastics in Kaikoura and how the Coromandel team worked together.
"The team was made up of 12 kids from the Coromandel and it was a five-day comp. We stayed together in a backpackers 10 minutes from where the surf break is, which is called Meatworks. We'd wake up around 6am and leave. On the quarter-final I versed my friend Izzy Milne and we both made it through to the semis. The semis and final were about half an hour apart, I nearly missed out on the semis - I got a tiny inside wave in the last five seconds and made it through. I landed on the rocks on my back in the final, but I was okay."

Q - What does your training look like? And how often do you surf?
"The Whangamatā Surf Academy trains three times a week for about two hours, made up of either skating, surf analysis, surfing or fitness. I'm the only girl but Chloe Groube from Pauanui is going to join next year. I surf on the weekends, after school and before school if it's good and if I can. Last year I started going to the gym and doing a set programme of fitness."

Q - What do you enjoy about competitive surfing?
"I've always been a competitive person and the fact that you have something to work towards, whether it's competition strategy, improving your turns or the way you see the waves, what you want to do on it. For me, it drives me to be more motivated."

Q - What do you do to try and improve in the sport?
"It's not a very team-oriented sport so unless you're at a team event you've got to stay motivated and know what you want to achieve. You have to have a good mindset and take on advice as much as possible. I do this by setting goals of what I want to work on with my coach Dylan Care [Whangamatā Surf Academy and WAS teacher]. We have an app that shows you surfing and you can see where your arms need to be and what you could've done."

Q Do you get scared on big days?
"Not really, it's just water."

Q - Is there anyone you'd like to thank?
"My coach Dylan Care, without him I wouldn't get all the training and get to go to the comps, and my parents for taking me and my brother Ashton around everywhere!"

Q - What tips do you have for girls hoping to have a go at surfing this summer?
"Try it out, you don't know if you'll like it until you do. If you do like it, go out with a good attitude to get better and have fun. You'll get to hang out with the best people and get opportunities."

Pia was the lone Coromandel finalist at the recent 2020 National Scholastic Surfing Championships presented by Pub Charity, finishing fourth in the under-14 girls division.

The five-day event in Kaikoura rounded out a series of regional qualifiers for the 11 teams in attendance.

Some 110 surfers participated after having qualified to represent their 12-person teams.

The national scholastic titles comprise seven age-group divisions for males and females across both shortboard and longboard disciplines.

In the teams event, Canterbury surfed to victory with three titles from their five finalists.

It is only the second time in 32 years that Canterbury has claimed the title, the last coming in 2018. The dominant Bay of Plenty, which has won the title a record nine times, finished runner-up this year, leaving Auckland in third place still hunting for their first team title at the event.

Young surfers from the Coromandel were given a financial boost to attend the event in Kaikoura thanks to a donation from the Whangamata Summer Festival committee.