Groms locked out
Agreat day of surf turned into a disappointing last minute stop to competition for the Billabong Grom Series due to Auckland’s Covid-19 level 3 lockdown announcement on Saturday night.
Coromandel surfers were scoring some great rides at Piha on Auckland’s west coast on the first day last Saturday, and organisers had just completed all the preparation for the second day when they tuned in to the 9pm update.
“The Coromandel surfers were doing well in the event leading into the final day with eight surfers still alive in the event,” says Surfing New Zealand’s Ben Kennings.
“Pia Rogers, Chloe Groube, Lola Groube and India Kennings had all reached the semifinals while the boys in the Under 14 divisions had several rounds remaining to reach the finals of their division.”
He says a decision on the outcome of the event will be made after the Government update on Friday regarding alert levels.
Level 2 has 100 person gatherings maximum.
The series involved 130 surfers in each event, 13 staff and family and friends equating to an extra 1.5 per participant.
“Our options now are to cancel the event and give surfers equal points for where they finished, reschedule at Piha to a spare weekend, and the only one is 27-28 March, reschedule to the 27-28 March at a different location, double up on another SNZ sanctioned event which would likely be one in the South Island and run two events on the same weekend in different locations.”
The organisers could also tag one day on to another event to get it completed, such as the Friday prior to the Pauanui Grom Comp which is coming up.
The next event is the Canterbury Women’s Champs due to be held this weekend which is unlikely to go ahead.
The Duke Festival also in Christchurch is now in doubt.