Sixty years after surfing their first waves as a registered club, Snapper Rocks president Jay Phillips says the club are taking a totally new approaching to the 2024 Usher Cup, World Club Challenge as they look to have their name carved into the wooden trophy for a second time.
“We’ve really just got to choose the right team for our surfers in this one, it’s just trying to pick our surfers in order, that surf well and are on time and don’t think about themselves and just think about the team and bring success for our whole club.”
Proud to have played host to the Usher Cup and last year the World Club Challenge since inception, Phillips said he still finds it hard to believe how quickly the annual contest has transformed into one of the most popular boardriders events on the planet.
“It just went from this national contest to this huge international thing and that’s what Rabbit had, I think he always had this vision of bringing the world’s best clubs to Australia and not just to any beach, but to Snapper Rocks which is one of the best high-performance waves in the world.”
“That’s why Theo looked at us and went we want you guys to be host for our World Club Challenge and I am so stoked and it’s coming around so fast and I think 2024 is going to be a bang for all thirty one clubs coming here to Snapper and it’s going to be an epic week of surfing.”
Founded in 1964, The Snapper Rocks Surf Riders Club has produced a host of World Champions during it’s sixty years.
Phyllis O’Donnell (1964): The first ever women’s world surfing champion.
Peter Townend (1976): The first ever professional world surfing champion.
Wayne Bartholomew (1978): The second professional world surfing champion, dominating the IPS tour with four event wins and a runner-up finish.
Joel Parkinson (2012): Parko clinched the title in the final event of the season at Pipeline, Hawaii, after finishing runner-up four times in his career.
Stephanie Gilmore (2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2018): equalling the great Layne Beachley as Australia’s most successful female surfer.
Mick Fanning (2007, 2009, 2013): The three-time WSL Men’s World Tour champion won his first title in 2007, just two years after suffering a career-threatening injury. He won his second title in 2009, and his third title in 2013, after a dramatic showdown with Kelly Slater at Pipeline.
Mark Occhilupo (1999): The 1999 WSL Men’s World Tour winner, who staged a remarkable comeback after retiring from the tour in 1993.
The Club has also produced a host of National champions including Jay Phillips who won the 2007 Australian Open of Surfing contest and competed on the World Tour. Dean “Dingo” Morrison a former world junior champion is regarded as one of the clubs best ever surfers despite not claiming a world title. Dingo won the 2003 Quicksilver Pro held at Snapper Rocks and the Rip Curl Bells Beach Pro. Mitch Parkinson was crowned 2017 Volcom Pipe Pro champion.
With a proud tradition of excellence, innovation, and camaraderie, Phillips says the host club will leave no stone unturned as they look to secure Usher Cup and World Club Challenge titles when the contest gets underway at Snapper Rocks from the 18th to the 21st of January.