Taranaki junior surfer Daniel Farr, 13.
Taranaki surfer Daniel Farr hopes competing at the Junior World Championship in June will be the first step to a professional surfing career.
The 13-year-old is part of a team of 12 who will represent New Zealand at the International Surfing Association event in Nicaragua.
“It would be my dream to surf on the world tour,” said Daniel who will compete in the boys’ under-16 division at the championship which features the world’s top 200 junior surfers.
Daniel, who said he was “stoked” to be chosen to represent his country, is the number three ranked surfer nationally in his age group and number one in Taranaki. This will be his first time surfing at an international competition.
The home-schooled New Plymouth teenager said he was excited at the opportunity to surf against the world’s best, and at the chance to “see a new country”.
He will be joined in Nicaragua by another up-and-coming Taranaki surfer, Sean Kettle, who is the number one ranked under-18 surfer in New Zealand.
In an unusual twist, Daniel is looking forward to surfing alongside Mt Maunganui’s Kehu Butler, who is one of his arch-rivals on the national tour.
“I’ve been surfing against him in all the comps, so it will be cool to be on the same team,” said the Fitzroy local who has been surfing for about five years.
Daniel’s father David Farr said Sean and Daniel were chosen for the New Zealand team following a national camp held at Piha in March and “based on their performance on the national surfing scene”.
Mr Farr said he was excited that his son would be attending what he described as “the Olympics of surfing”, but he was realistic of the outcome.
“Should he not do too well this year, the experience will be invaluable for the future,” Mr Farr said.
The family are busy fundraising for the trip, which will cost about $5000, and are grateful for the support they’ve received so far from the community, The Big Wave Café and O’Neill New Zealand.
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