Up-and-coming Nelson Bay surfer Mike Clayton-Brown will have the opportunity to learn from some of the best in the sport after being selected to attend an Australian High Performance Surfing Academy camp.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The 15 year old is one of just four under-16 surfers picked to by Surfing NSW to attend the Mark Richards Surf Camp, to be held on the Gold Coast in September.
“It came out of the blue,” Mike said of his selection. “I was shocked but I am really looking forward to it.
“It feels great to be selected and I’ll be going along with some of my good mates.”
At the high performance camp Mike, Grayson Hendricks (Bondi), Joel Vaughan and Lennox Chell (Central Coast) will be trained by Australia’s leading surf coaches to improve performance, technique and fitness.
Mike’s selection came off the back of a series of outstanding performances during the past 12 months.
He was the winner of the 2017 Rip Curl Surf Series national final at Sandon Point and claimed the 2017 Junior Mattara Classic in Newcastle.
He also posted strong results in the under-14 boys Rip Curl GromSearch series, Surfest wildcard trials and Billabong Oz Grom Cup, amongst others.
While he is a shortboard rider, Mike entered the longboard state titles held as part of the Port Stephens Surf Festival last month for extra competition experience.
He posted a second place in the junior men’s longboard and a third in the junior men’s logger.
For the second placing, Mike has qualified for the Australian Longboard Titles to be held at Tweed Heads in August.
“It’s good to ride something different,” he said. “It keeps you fresh and makes you want to surf more. It’s always good to get the comp experience.”
Next stop for Mike is the WSL Skullcandy Pro Junior event at Lennox Head between July 15 and 18 and the Surfing NSW State Championships at Coffs Harbour between July 20 and 24.
“I’m feeling confident going in,” he said. “I’ve been surfing really well lately. But I’ll surf as much as I can, do some practice heats and do some other training before we go.”
The young surfer said he would likely sign up for the Port Stephens Toyota NSW Pro when it returns in November, especially after a close knockout in the first round during the inaugural 2017 event.