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by: John Veage

The first Cronulla Surfing Titles were held in the early 1960s by the original Cronulla Boardriders Club – they were the only club on the beach at the time and surfing was a new competitive sport in this country before Manly hosted the inaugural 1964 World Surfing Titles.

The Sutherland Shire was first represented as a region by the Cronulla Boardriders Association which formed around 1970 with surfboard shaper and NSW champion Denny Childs winning the Cronulla title.

In the late 70s the name was changed to the Sutherland Shire Surfing Association and later still Surfing Sutherland Shire who now annually runs the Ocean and Earth juniors surfing titles and the Cronulla Open Surfing Titles.

Last year unassuming goofy foot Harrison Martin from Sandshoes won the battle of the Sutherland Shire boardriding clubs but this year the contest was won by Elouera’s Ben Dewhurst over Cronulla Sharks 16 yr old ripper Kash Brown.
This year the event was held at Elouera Beach in fun 2-3ft left and right handers which gave everyone an equal chance.

Brown’s Cronulla clubmate Grace Gosby made it back to back titles in the Open Women’s and Soren Smith also caused Kash some pain in the u18 final with a hard fought win.
Matt Mulder took the men’s Malibu title and Phoebe Hick kept her women’s Malibu crown.
NSW state title seeding saw Sonny Leong win the u12 boys and Zara Hyland and Phoenix Black the U14s.

Halon Tanko and Mia Martin took the u16s and Smith and Gosby the U18s.

Photo: Cronulla Open Men’s Champion Ben Dewhurst (yellow) holds the 110 year old Paddy McCue Cronulla Titles trophy. Picture John Veage

Cronulla Girls Boardriders Club celebrate their quarter century of riding the waves. Picture and words by: John Veage

The Cronulla Girls Boardriders Cub has celebrated its 25th year at its annual presentation night at the Cronulla RSL Club. Formed by Sari Lokollo and a handful of like minded women in 1998 it was started some when partners of the established Cronulla Sharks Boardriders Club members thought it fitting that they had their own girls club.

They held their first registration day at the North Cronulla Alley and got 18 starting surfers with Alana Smith, Misty, Kim Lester, Lynsey Knowlands, Tiarne Smith, Crystal Smith, Lorissa Smith, Broni Smith, Alex, Jordan, Rebecca Verseylus and quite a few female groms at the original sign up. Sari said it was exciting, and the girls were pumped planning their first contest that would be held the following month at the Alley.

Fittingly the last contest of 2023 was also held at North Cronulla Beach and it certainly served up some challenging conditions. The surf was a sloppy, heaving mess but there was no other option on the beaches so it was an apt, full-circle moment that the girls didn’t appreciate whilst being swept continually north in the raging rip. Despite the tough conditions, they managed to finish up the year with a fun comp with good vibes and lots of laughs as usual. The last comp also changed placings on the leaderboard, making for an exciting end to the season. In the Open A division NSW junior champion and Cronulla Sharks women champ Grace Gosby just got over the top of multiple club champion Jazmyn Schafer with Pippi Simpson and Jasmine Gosby the top four.

In the all important Micro’s Lily Hurst overcame Billi Trouville with Mia Martin taking the Juniors crown over Matilda Thearle. Phoebe Hick claimed the Malibu top prize over Cassidy Maloney and Tayla Degan won the Open B Grade. For the past nine years sisters Kathryn and Jennifer Ward have been running the club as co-presidents. Jennifer said they are a good team.
“We are helped by some amazing ladies – Rach Whyte, Ash Timbrell, Kass Bertram and others.

“I love that we are part of a movement for advancing women’s sport and providing a place for women to feel supported and comfortable”

“Our comp days are really fun, the vibes are high, everyone has a smile and most importantly we’ve all become friends,” she said

“Kathryn and I are competitive by nature, so it has been important for us to run a serious club with competitive surfing, however we’re also cognizant that surfing should be fun and social”

“We hope we’ve achieved that balance.”