LOCAL FOOTY BOARD MEETING OF DIFFERENT KIND
A NEW era has dawned.
After almost 50 years of history, the rivalry between Barwon Heads and Torquay has entered a new chapter.
For the first time, the Seagulls and Tigers will today compete for the Battle of the Breaks.
A surfboard trophy has been struck for the clash with the backing of father-and-son publicans John and Joel Taylor, who own both the Torquay Hotel and the Barwon Heads Hotel.
Rip Curl has designed and created the striking new surfboard for the inaugural Battle of the Breaks match, which has the backing of 13th Beach Boardriders and Torquay Boardriders Club.
The surfboard was the brainchild of Seagulls president Tim Goddard, who was eager to celebrate the on-andoff-field traditions of the two coastal clubs.
“It’s a trophy that’s going to be around forever, it’s a bloody ripper,” Goddard said.
“The trophy idea was there, but I thought it was a bit lame to have a plaque.
“And I thought ‘ What are we famous for?’ We’re both traditional surfing towns and we’ve got some good surf breaks. Ours is Beacon and Torquay’s is Bells Beach.
“So what can be play for? The Battle of the Breaks … Beacon versus Bells.
“I ran it past the pub and I ran it past Rip Curl and they agreed to make it. I got the boardriders on deck, 13th Beach and Torquay, and off we go. Tradition is made.
“We used to hate the Torquay boardriders coming over and surfing our waves. It’s also about the old-school connection, because you often lose that old-school connection with new people coming in.
“We wanted to reinvigorate that.”
Tigers president Jenny Wood said the club was excited to launch the new partnership with Barwon Heads.
“We’re looking forward to it, it’s going to be a cracker of a game, and it’s something that we thought of last season — having the owners of the two pubs sponsor the day — and providing the means for the trophy,” she said.
“Given both teams are on the coast and have the best beaches, we felt that was an appropriate rivalry to strike up.”
Currently in the hands of Goddard, the surfboard will take its rightful place inside the clubrooms of the winning senior team tonight.
“One of the members from one of the boardriders clubs will present it to the winning captain and we’ll mount it in the winning clubrooms … and hopefully that’s Barwon Heads,” Goddard said.
“We hope it has life because there’s not too many trophies in sport like this. It’s a full-size surfboard with three fins on it and we can put the scores on the back. We’re hoping to do a best player from the match on the back as well.”