Tewantin-Noosa Lions Club and the Noosa World Surfing Reserve have joined forces to present “rising star” awards to two junior competitors at this week’s Noosa Festival of Surfing.
But these awards differ from most encouragements offered to young sports people showing the best prospects for future success. The Lions/NWSR awards recognise not just skill levels but how you play the game. And when the game is as popular as surfboard riding in a wave-rich zone as popular as Noosa, that’s a very important distinction.
NWSR president Kirra Molnar, herself a professional longboarder known for both her ability and her friendly attitude in the water, told Noosa Today: “This award is not about just winning, it’s about showing the true spirit and culture of Noosa. The winners must throughout the contest period, both in and out of the water, reflect the core values of the Noosa World Surfing Reserve – that is to share, respect and preserve in all they do. These awards are presented to foster our community of surfers, improve the surfing culture of Noosa and help develop young surfers’ skills within the sport.”
The first Rising Star awards, funded by Tewantin-Noosa Lions and organised by the NWSR, gave the inaugural gongs, not to mention a $1200 two-day training course at Surfing Australia’s High Performance Centre, to under 15 girls competitor Poppy Wright and under 18 boys surfer Liam Hann. Both of these promising young surfers will be heading down to the Tweed Coast of NSW for a two-day intensive of surfing lessons, video analysis and skateboard training, plus mobility and recovery sessions.
While all this was happening at the festival last weekend during the NEO Creative Juniors, the NWSR stewardship group was also busy manning their information and sales tent on the beach, while entertaining visitors from the latest World Surfing Reserve, North Devon in the UK, dedicated last year, becoming the 13th. (Noosa was the 10th back in 2020.)
If you’re visiting the surf festival this weekend, pop by the NWSR tent and learn all about it.
