Sally Fitzgibbons predicts big futures for groms

World No.2 Sally Fitzgibbons hopes she’ll still be a ‘dinosaur’ on the ASP World Tour if some of the grommets at her Surfing Australia Pro Surfer Camp make the professional circuit.
If enthusiasm counts for anything, Sally has little doubt some of the young girls at her camp will one day be making serious tilts at a professional career.
Held at the Hurley Surfing Australia High Performance Centre (HPC) at Casuarina in northern New South Wales, the grommets had the chance to surf and hang out with Sally, go through a video analysis of their surfing and then grill Sally on her life as a professional surfer.
“It’s really exciting to come up and see all the girls this year,” Sally said. “They are so energetic and so excited. I am pretty much worn out.
“I love the kids, they don’t hold back and they wear their emotions on their sleeve. They are 100 per cent keen to be here to surf and learn. They were just jumping up and down like this crazy little wolf pack of jumping jelly beans.”
Sally, who is preparing for this year’s opening event of the ASP World Tour the Roxy Pro at Snapper Rocks on the Gold Coast from 2nd March, was amazed at the surfing maturity of the girls at her camp.
“There are girls here as young as nine that already have a load of information,” Sally said.
“They are telling me what competitions they have been in and what turn they are working on. At that age I was just getting off a longboard and still surfing straight. The girls here are doing proper bottom turns and linking turns.
“They are going to be little machines as they grow up. Starting as young as they are they’re bound to hit the professional scene running before I know it. I think I’ll be the dinosaur at the end of my career and they’ll be the rookies.”
Sally’s camp was fourth of the Surfing Australia Pro Surfer Camps following camps hosted by Mitch Crews, Owen and Tyler Wright, and Bede Durbidge.
For more information on programs at the HPC log into www.surfingaustralia.com.
The Surfing Australia Pro Surfer Camps are proudly supported by the Australian Sports Commission and Suncorp.