They are proud to be hosting the event and will be the most gracious hosts, however the Snapper Rocks Surf Riders club are out to defend their title in 2023 and are assembling a strong team spearheaded by dual Usher Cup finalist Jaggar Bartholomew.
For Jay Phillips, the Usher Cup is the perfect platform for the club’s elite junior development program participants to test themselves against some of the most exciting junior surfers on the planet.
“What we are looking at is our junior development programs are second to none at the moment, we’ve had the likes of Jaggar Bartholomew coming through the ranks as he is sitting right at the top of his game right now, Marlon Harrison and we have just got some great surfers coming through and they just want to edge their way to the top and try and represent their club like all the others and we can’t be happier.”
Snapper Rocks representative Jaggar Bartholomew has been pipped in the final seconds of the past two Usher Cup deciders, and while he joked at the launch about sliding down the podium, there is certainly a steely focus as he builds towards January’s contest.
“I was just saying, first year I got second, last year I got third, so I have kind of been going backwards, but I think it will be great for all these other clubs and competitors to come over and experience what our lifestyle is like, and our environment and it will be my pleasure to put them all away.”
Like several of the Usher Cups previous male and female winners, Jaggar is looking to use the contest as a springboard for his professional goals.
“As Theo and my dad know, I have these dreams and I have got these aspirations, and I want to turn them into reality, yeah I’m ready”
But while New Zealand, Japan, Hawaii, Bali, and the United States are sending strong teams, the competition from the board riding community will go to a whole new level in 2023 with contest Director Wayne “rabbit” Bartholomew saying the format for the contest now being held over four days has changed.
“Yeah the format does change, the first two years we have had, there has basically been an individual event with the club factored within the results of the individuals, this year we are going to have a world club challenge day on the Saturday involving all thirty two clubs in the event, we’ve expanded, like last year we expanded out and we invited Torquay, North Narrabeen and North Shelley Beach, three of the most successful clubs in Australia, this year Merriweather are coming so all the last four Australian board riders battle champion clubs are coming, plus Snapper being a two time winner of that in the early days, but the international clubs really make it exciting.”
“Club surfing in Australia, you know Kirra club just celebrated their 60th year, Snapper is 58 and a lot of the other Australian clubs, they are institutions now where as club surfing internationally has just really become on fire, in America it’s amazing, there’s something like eighty affiliated clubs in the United States now and as Americans they do it big, they’ve got a commissioner, they have got a Chairman and they are really coming out here to challenge those established Australian clubs and that’s awesome.”
Wayne saying there are essentially three trophies up for grabs with Saturdays World Club Challenge event which will involve all 31 teams, providing crucial overall Usher Cup points, while male and female surfers will also compete for individual honours and equal prizemoney.
“This year in the expansion, the World Club Challenge Day will then combine with the individual points once again to get the overall winner.”
“Every single club has got this at the very top of their club an elite group, it’s wide open, everyone can win this event, it’s just going to come down to on the day. At the Presidents dinner we are going to do a bit of a, we’re going to just seed some of the top clubs and the rest is going to come out of a hat and so there could be like how in soccer you have a pool of death you know, anyone could come out of that hat and that’s going to make it super exciting, the presidents will have to see how they go in that draw.”