Registrations are now being taken for young Port residents with a passion for surfing or an interest in going behind the scenes of the Pro and helping out to caddy for the competitors during the November 15-17 event.

"It's open to any local kid wanting an opportunity to hang out with some of the girls and help them by caddying on competition days," Deb Stretton, an organiser of the newly established Kaos Surf Kaddies program, said.

Caddies will be invited to the VIP area, receive a shirt, a bag of goodies, breakfast and lunch. In addition to the caddy program, there is an opportunity for high school to university-aged students to undertake work experience during the Port Pro.

Work experience opportunities have been offered to local kids during the last two Pros. But with the 2019 Pro having to drop the men's and juniors events due to scheduling changes, seeing only the Women's QS6000 being staged, organisers have ramped up their efforts to include local kids by initiating the Kaos Surf Kaddies program and to offer more work experience opportunities.

"We're trying to engage the local kids by offering them quality time with the competitors, to get to know them on a personal level," Stretton said. "For the older kids, they can get hands on experience with things like event management and webcasting."

Jasmine Sampson, 17, from Anna Bay, has been a competitor in the Port Pro for the past two years and is a wildcard entry into next month's competition.

In addition to competing, she has also undertaken work experience during the 2017 and 2018 Port Pros, an experience she said was "really cool".

"It was cool to be part of the atmosphere, to be around the pros," she said, "You get an idea of what goes into bringing the event together, see behind the scenes."

Anyone interested in signing up for the caddy program or work experience are asked to contact Stretton on 0419 498 101.

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