Provincial Surf Contest

Press, Volume XCVII, Issue 28530, 8 March 1958, Page 5

Provincial Surf Contest

Considerable interest will centre around the first CanterburyWellington surf carnival to be held at Lyall Bay this week-end. The success or failure of this event could have a bearing on the future of the national surfing titles, for it would indicate the prospects of introducing composite Such teams would help reduce the size of the national championships in which clubs compete at present. Under the present system the New Zealand championships have become unwieldy and have caused many organising problems. Strong Team Canterbury’s competitors at the carnival will have the moral advantage of knowing they have already beaten their Wellington opponents. Canterbury will have a very strong contingent at the contest. Another advantage Canterbury will have is that except for C. Bidwell (Sumner), all of its competitors have been drawn from two clubs. South Brighton supplied four and Nev# Brighton two. The problem of teamwork will, therefore, be considerably lessened. Wellington’s* team has been chosen from at least five clubs. Canterbury also nominated its team earlier than Wellington and has made the most of this advantage in training. The juniors to represent Canterbury form a well-knit combination. Only one change has been made in the team to represent the province. F. McKenzie (South Brighton) has replaced P. Breach (New Brighton) who is unable to travel.