We are the Champions!
A massive CONGRATULATIONS to the 2024 Pāpāmoa Oceans Squad for their win at the weekend’s Oceans ’24 Junior Surf Carnival.
Head Junior Coach Jack Bullock says with the Eastern Region Junior Championship Cup in our hands and the top spot on the Oceans podium under our feet, it is undisputable that we have put Pāpāmoa back at the heart of junior surf sports in New Zealand.
“It’s thanks to the commitment and resilience of everyone who brought into the dream over the last five years, that we have achieved our 6th Oceans win,” he says.
In 2007, 55 athletes contributed to our first Oceans success, claiming the top spot with a stunning 96 points. Up until 2016 we had four more wins and remained in the top three. Despite this very successful start, the late twenty-tens saw the team trip and stumble from the top down the scoreboard as far as 13th, with a team size that was only a third of our peak.
“With the squad disintegrating, our clubhouse literally falling apart, and with the loss of several role models from the team, we lost sight of what we could achieve as a team,” says Jack.
When Jack came on board as coach in 2019, the hunger to be the best and claim back the top stop hadn’t died. With such a strong history of success, winning this event became an obsession of the Pāpāmoa Oceans Team.
“Those remaining members never forgot the pride we felt in the team, the friendships we made, the sense of accomplishment and the strength we felt hearing "PAP POWER" roar from the grandstand,” says Jack.
A huge THANK YOU to the parents, managers, supporters, coaches, committee members, officials, lifeguards, volunteers and our sponsors – this would not have been possible without the collective effort of everyone involved.
