Australia’s biggest grassroots boardrider event, the Hyundai Australian Boardriders Battle (ABB) presented by Zambrero is set to kick off on the Gold Coast this Saturday 3 September, 2022.
The single-day qualifier event will showcase Queensland’s best boardrider clubs as they battle for a position in the Grand Final which will be held in February 2023.
The competition is going to be red hot with a number of former World Championship Tour surfers set to compete for their clubs, including Josh Kerr (Snapper Rocks), Liam O’Brien (Burleigh Heads Boardriders) and Jay ‘Bottle’ Thompson (Burleigh Heads Boardriders).
The ABB is a distinctive ‘tag team’ team format where clubs must select 2 x Open Men, 1 x Open Woman, 1 x Master (over 35 years) and 1 x Junior (under 18 years) to compete.
Each surfer will be scored on their best two waves and must return to the beach after completing their waves, before ‘releasing’ the next team member into the waves. It’s definitely not your average surfing competition!
There is a mixture of Gold Coast, North Stradbroke Island and Sunshine Coast clubs competing in the event, including Snapper Rocks, Burleigh Heads, Point Lookout, Noosa, North Shore, and many others.
The Gold Coast event will mark the first of the eight nationwide qualifying rounds from September 3, 2022 through to Mid December 2022. The series will then head to Western Australia, South Australia, Tasmania, New South Wales, Victoria and back to New South Wales (see full event series schedule below).
This weekend’s event will also kick off the Hyundai and Surfing Australia ‘She’s Electric’ national women’s leaderboard. She’s Electric recognises and amplifies female grassroots athletes on a national scale by leveraging LiveHeats data from the Australian Boardriders Battles. This leaderboard aims to give female boardriders a profile, unearthing breakout talent and creating a pathway to the top – inspiring the next generation of surfers.
Sponsors of the 2022/23 series include the naming rights partner Hyundai and supporting sponsors Zambrero, Oakley, Harvey Norman, Reeftip Drinks Co and Acciona.
EVENT SERIES SCHEDULE
Event 1 – Gold Coast, QLD – September 3, 2022
Event 2 – Trigg, WA – September 10, 2022
Event 3 – Fleurieu Peninsula, SA – September 24, 2022
Event 4 – Clifton Beach, Tas – October 22, 2022
Event 5 – NSW Nth, Coffs Harbour, NSW – October 29, 2022
Event 6 – Phillip Island, Vic – November 6, 2022
Event 7 – NSW Central, North Narrabeen, NSW – November 19, 2022
Event 8 – NSW South, Kiama, NSW – November 26, 2022
Grand Final – TBC – February 4 – 5, 2023
KEY EVENT INFORMATION
- Call the Surfing Queensland event hotline (07 3030 6388) after 6am on Saturday 3 September for confirmed event location.
- Competition is set to commence at 8am.
- The Hyundai Australian Boardriders Battle is an unprecedented event series involving over 70 of Australia’s Boardriders Clubs in eight State qualifying events and culminating in a National Final for 24 clubs at the Grand Final in February, 2023.
- National Final participating Boardriders Club (BRC) breakdown: 12 x NSW BRC’s (4 x NSW North BRC’s, 4 x NSW Central BRC’s 4 x NSW South BRC’s), 4 x QLD BRC’s, 1 x VIC BRC, 1 x WA BRC, 1 x SA BRC, 1 x TAS BRC, 1 x Hyundai Newcastle trials winner, 2 x Wildcard BRC’s by application
- The Hyundai Australian Boardriders Battle will comprise of a multifaceted format at the National Final; Open Men, Open Women, Master, Junior, aerial and Teams disciplines
- To win, clubs need to possess true depth of talent and the understanding of the different strategies that need to be applied to each different surfing format – $24,000 prize money split between x 8 State events – $88,700 prize money across the National Final with the winning boardriders taking home a huge $20,000
