Four-time Surfest Indigenous Classic winner Joe Haddon is rapt to see his home waters get deserved attention, and his boys paddle out at their home break, when a new piece of Aussie junior silverware rolls into town.
The Worimi man's nine-year-old son Lakey is a local wild seed in the under 12s bracket for the Reflections Cadet Cup at Nine Mile Beach in Tuncurry this weekend.
Aloha, 8, is a chance to get out there if a spot opens up on the day.
Worimi and Biripi are traditional custodians of the coastal region.
Mum and dad had the boys in the water, mucking around in the shorebreak in their pre-school years, Haddon said, developing confidence in the water most surfing families are keen to nurture.
"They're pumped," for the Cadet Cup starting Saturday, he told National Indigenous Times.
"It's always comforting to be in your own background...home waters. And I believe the boys, although it's their first big event, I'm really confident in the way they read the ocean around home, especially for their ages."
"My wife and I, for the last sort of six months, have started to just sit down on the beach, and they're content to take it on, on their own, you know, their own little way. And they do really well. (Also) having that connection to Country and our home turf and home waters."
The Cadet Cup, a nationally-rated event, backed by iconic Australian event Surfest, allows for local young Forster boardriders, like Lakey, entry as wildcards.
Reflections, a major Holiday Parks operator, hosted their first event an hour down the road in Bonny Hills last year.
"We believe that life's better outside and we exist to connect our guests with nature and create experiences for them, and the Cadet Cup really meets all of our goals in that sense," Reflections chief marketing officer Pete Chapman said.
Joe Haddon is on the local Boardriders committee.
He says Forster-Tuncurry's quality of surf has been under-utilised for major competition, even a "sore point" for locals at times.
"Anything like this, it's going to get crew coming to town and putting that vibe out there. It's gonna open up a lot of eyes, I reckon…we're frothing," he said.
Haddon added Surfest director Warren Smith had been supportive of bringing it to town.
After success at Bonny Hills, Smith said "we're really excited to be expanding the cup into this second competition at Nine Mile".
"These regional events are really the breeding ground for the development of youth surfing to build national champions and we're thrilled to be partnering with Reflections again on this second event in the Cadet Cup calendar."
