Barbados Junior Surfing Team goes to Portugal! May. 15, 2007

The Barbados junior surfing team is going to Portugal with high hopes of making a strong performance on the world stage. They will be competing against 30 national delegations in Costa de Caprice just south of Lisbon.

The team has been training over the last six weeks in order to be prepared for the tough challenge ahead. In Barbados we are very lucky to have such a strong surf team this time around. Lets hope that the cold water and nerves don’t get the better of them as that seems to be the trend in Barbados surfing.

I personally believe the lack of international and regional exposure is the route of the problem and if the kids really want it they have to fight for it.

We have a very young team of girls surfing for Barbados in this competition. I have never seen any 14, 12 or 10 year olds surf this event. Nevertheless this is a great opportunity for them to see what is really out there and to realize the level that is expected in the international surfing arena. Hopefully they can bring back that experience and build on it in turn raising the bar for surfing in Barbados.

I wish the Barbados junior surfing team all the best and hope to see the strong results that these kids deserve.

By Barry Banfield