Oakley Pro Junior 2010 Set For Port Alfred

Port Alfred, Eastern Cape - Oakley South Africa is proud to announce the 2010 edition of the Oakley Pro Junior surfing event. This event is a World Pro Junior Grade 2 event, with US$2,500 (R18,650) first prize for the boys and US$1,000 (R7,500 ) first prize for the girls out of a total prize pool of US$12,500 (R93,000). The Oakley Pro Junior South Africa is part of the global qualifying series to find the top junior surfers to compete in the Oakley World Pro Junior in Bali this October. Other world-wide venues include North Stradbroke Island in Australia, Hossegor in France, Trestles in North America as well as venues in Japan and Brazil.

The country's top junior surfers will all be determined for victory at this event, and have all been training furiously for the event. Previous winner Shaun Joubert from Mossel Bay is the favourite on paper, but he is going to feel the heat with the assembled competitors. Beyrick De Vries has been in the limelight recently, with good results and the South African Junior Team captaincy to his name. Dale Staples from St. Francis Bay has also been competing and training hard, as has Nick Godfrey from Cape St Francis. The junior series has become a fierce, no-holds-barred arena recently, and a big win at an event like the Oakley Pro Junior can launch a career.
The girls division is just as fierce. Last year Oakley put on the Pro Junior Girls division, and although entries weren't very high, there was some quality surfing, and Sarah Baum smashed the running right-handers to take out the event. This year again she is looking like the favourite, but she has a great rivalry going with Bianca Buitendag, who will want to claim the trophy for herself this year.

The venue for the 2010 Oakley Pro Junior is the idyllic Eastern Cape seaside town of Port Alfred.

The Kowie River opens up into the sea at Port Alfred, making for a very consistent powerful and hollow right-hander on the East Beach, and some wedging A-Frames on the West. The right-hander off the river mouth can throw some perfect barrels, and offers long, open faces for high performance surfing. A good day at Port Alfred with the best junior surfers in attendance will no doubt see some ten-point rides getting scored. Oakley South Africa's Steve 'Chappy' Adshade is excited about this year's event. "The team at Oakley is stoked to bring you the third edition of the Oakley Pro Junior," said Chappy. "Kowie delivered incredible conditions last year, we have upped the ante and expect a competitive field and another world class event. Bring your A-game, good luck!"

The Oakley Pro Junior is set to take place on the 30 April - 2 May 2010. All the contest information, images and contestant profiles can be viewed on the event website http://oakleyprojunior.com, and the event will be judged under accordance with the 2010 ASP judging criteria. ASP Africa sanctions the Pro Junior division

About ASP: The Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) is the governing body of professional surfing. Crowning surfing's undisputed world champions since 1976, the ASP sanctions the following tours: the ASP World Tour, the ASP Women's World Tour, the World Qualifying Series (WQS) and the World Longboarding, Junior and Masters Championships. The ASP is dedicated to showcasing the world's best surfing talent in a variety of progressive formats and has revolutionized the way the world watches surfing via their webcasts. The organization is divided into seven different regions: Africa, Japan, Australasia, Europe, Hawaii, North America, and South America.