It may have been a new-look team relatively inexperienced at representative level, but Illawarra still managed to rally to finish in a highly creditable sixth place at the 2017 Interbranch Championship held in Stockton last weekend.
One of the leading lights across the two-day carnival for Illawarra was the performances of young-gun Kyan Pickthall in his first time at this level of competition.
The U12 competitor won the Beach Flags and finished second in the Sprint in what was a memorable weekend.
“It’s been a great experience met new people and made new friendships being away with team is awesome.
“I had a lot of fun and it is almost like a mini-state there’s a lot of finalists in the competition so it’s good,” said Kyan Pickthall.
Another high-class performer was that of Jazmine Yew who took out the Open Female Flags in a strong field.
“It feels good to get the win in Open Flags and it was a tough competition as well.
“There’s been a good team vibe we’ve had a few changes still a lot of fun to compete. I’ve just finished HSC so I’m getting back into training now to see where I am at,” said Yew.
The NSW Director of Surf Sport, Don van Keimpema, thanked the Stockton club and the Hunter Branch for hosting the Championships this year and congratulated all the athletes, team managers, coaches and officials for their efforts.
“We’re hoping to build this event to be one of the premier events in the state. The team environment we had this weekend was absolutely fantastic,” he said.
NSW selectors will convene later this week to finalise the team that will contest the 2018 Interstate Championships in South Australia with an announcement expected in the coming days.
Additionally following the conclusion of the event, the venue for the 2018 Interbranch Championship was officially confirmed as Black Head SLSC on the Lower North Coast to be held next December.
Friday 15 December 2017