Sandy Bay's Paco Divers will be leading the charge when the Northland junior team contest the National Scholastic Surfing Championships in Taranaki, starting tomorrow.
A previous winner of the individual title, Divers is one of 12 Northlanders competing.
Now a year-13 student at Tikipunga High School, he is in training for another
shot at the world junior title in France this year. Last year he finished 16th in the world event in Portugal and was the top-ranked under-18 surfer in New Zealand.
Making up the balance of the under-18 squad will be fellow Sandy Bay surfers Oliver Bone and Kieran Pullman, who are both ranked inside the New Zealand top 20, and Kaitaia's Todd Hale.
In the under-16 division, Joe Moretti (Mimiwhangata) and Darcy Bowden (Sandy Bay) have both had strong seasons on the national junior circuit, with Moretti also managing to claim some well-known scalps surfing up in the open divisions.
Patxi Scott-Arrieta (Sandy Bay) and Jack Treacy (Ocean Beach) are the under-14 representatives.
Scott-Arrieta has competed in the grom-search events around the country, consistently making his way into the final rounds. Treacy is relatively new to the contest scene but will be under the watchful eye of his father Viv, who recently won the national longboard series in the over-50s division.
In the under-18 girls' division, Sandy Bay's Demi Poynter, who has made the finals in a number of national contests, will be supported by Kaitaia surfers Jessie Anderson and Ellen Koland.
Rounding out the team will be Sandy Bay body-boarder Tyron Josephs and reserve surfer Peter Ralph, from Russell.
