RVCA kicks off their first Junior Series event in their backyard, Jeffreys Bay, with R100 000 in money, prizes and some of South Africa’s best waves. RVCA’s outlook on things is a little different, so their events will break from the norm.
RVCA (pronounced “Rooka”) values integrity, as well as balance, and combines the subcultures of art, music, fashion and modern lifestyle in its brand platform. This will be a unique event, where young surfers are encouraged to display creativity, originality and community awareness as well as their sublime moves in the surf.
The three-day contest will be held at Lower Point, J-Bay, home to the rolling right-point waves that make Jeffreys world-famous. The event will begin on Friday 22 March, with registration and a chilled evening of music and movies.
A core part of the RVCA concept is the Artist Network Program (ANP), which showcases inspirational artists pushing creative boundaries. Contemporary artist Fuzzy Slippers is part of the ANP and he’ll be there creating an installation artwork to launch the Instagram art competition that runs in conjunction with the event.
A graff art wall, with all materials sponsored by Plascon, will be an opportunity for surfers to express themselves by throwing up some stencil art, wildstyle graffiti or an intricate urban art piece.
Art exists to stimulate fresh ideas and community consciousness so surfers will be rewarded not only for launching the most ridiculous airs, but for showing their uniqueness, creativity and community spirit inside and outside the surfing subculture.
Says RVCA’s Robin Kietzmann, “It’s about ripping in the water and also giving back on land. Some of SA’s top videographers and photographers will be snapping the surfers in action as well as the activities on the beach and all photos and videos will be available for free download.”
The surfing event will be contested in boys and girls divisions in five age groups, under-10, under-12, under-14, under-16 and under-20.
In addition, special awards will be presented in new categories to keep it interesting. Two ‘On-Fire’ awards will go to the surfers displaying the most radical and expressive approach to surfing. The prize will be a brand new FireWire surfboard for each winner.
The ‘Fly Away’ award will be for the biggest aerial of the contest and the winner can choose a friend and a swell to surf and will be flown down to J-bay courtesy of J-bay Travel where they will stay at African Perfection B&B.
The highest heat score “scores” an apple iPad and custom-built Nixon accessories and the biggest carve wins a Sector 9 skateboard.
To make sure everyone leaves satisfied, every entrant gets a goodie bag of merchandise including Nixon headphones, RVCA contest tee, Lundun eyewear, stencils with Plascon spraypaint, Sticky Bumps wax and loads more.
The RVCA Junior Series is sanctioned by Surfing South Africa, recognised by the Dept of Sport and Recreation as the national controlling body for surfing. The events form part of the Pro Surf Tour (PST) with competitors in all the divisions earning points towards their 2013 PST rankings.
This first event in the series has already attracted nearly 100 top competitors from up and down the coast. Entries can be submitted online at www.surfingsouthafrica.co.za and participants must be PST members.
The RVCA Junior Series can be followed on Facebook at www.facebook.com/rvcajuniorseries