FUTURE SHOCK - They're Coming To Get Us



The mood has changed. In fact it’s not even a mood anymore, it’s a movement, a belief. To look into the eyes of our youngest generation of surfers in Indonesia is to look at a hungry generation ready to feed on competition. Rio Waida has proven the possibilities, made pro surfing not just a yellow brick road but a very real path. So that is what the Surftime Journal did. Looked into the eyes of our cubs back during the Gromsearch held at Halfway beach in Kuta. Yes, it had all the typical trappings of a kiddie contest, the anxious parents, the tears of those who almost made it, the tears of those who did, the hopes and dreams and comparisons and gossip and jealousies and judgments and cliques and claps and sunburns and sandy skin.



But this time, this time, under the blazing sun and amid the monsoon trash and debris that muddled the beach and added the possibility of getting knocked unconscious by a tree while paddling out, this time we witnessed the smartest competitive surfing that has ever been seen from our youngsters. And looking upon it on the final day, if you measured the relative height of the competitors to the size of the waves, our little mighty mites were paddling out into challenging 8 foot, chopped up, rip strewn surf. The courage that took alone proved to us that our youngsters have got their eyes on the prize. And with the advent of custom boards and equipment designed specifically for the under 30 kilo crowd, these surfers, for the first time in history, are able to emulate their heroes to a tee.



Used to be a little kid was lucky to get a beat up, broken in half, banana bruised relic to learn on. Now, with surfing becoming a far more realistic sport to Indonesian parents, this mini army of rippers are showing up with scaled down quivers as sophisticated as their grown up hero’s. If you are over forty think about your first board and you will get our point. Like F1 and its super charged carting system for young drivers, finally a supercharged system of boards and coaching and has reached the shores of our young. And they are basking in its blessings. Yes, despite all the hopes and dreams many will fall to the wayside, sure, but by the look of it many won’t. And that’s the point here. Indonesian surfing is being forced to mature by the youngest among us.



These little chargers carry in their hearts our grown up hopes for the future of Indonesian competitive surfing on a global scale. And it is indeed shocking that not only do they have the spirit and the ability to make it happen, but that they are getting so close. Remember, youth is the trustee of prosperity and history is always on the side of the young. Just look into their eyes. They’ve taken this thing on, and now it is up to us grown ups to keep them true to their dreams.

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