2022 High Performance Centre Surfing Camp
Mr Murray Bothma | Term 4 2023
In Week 7 Term 4 of last year, 20 students attended a surf training camp at the High-Performance Centre (HPC) in Tweed Heads, accompanied by Mrs Smith and Mr Bothma.
HPC is an Australian Institute of Sport facility purpose-built for training elite and aspiring athletes. The schedule for each day involved a morning warm-up, surf and then a skating session. After lunch, the students would have a footage review session where they would watch back videos of themselves from the morning and receive feedback from the coaches. The students would then have another gym or skate session and conclude training for the day with a final surf session.
During the skate sessions, students had the chance to develop aerial skills by launching off ramps and landing on an inflatable pillow or using the giant trampolines with aerial boards. The students also enjoyed developing their turning and pumping techniques on specially designed surf skateboards. The chance to replicate surfing skills on land in controlled and repeatable environments helps to build skills and techniques that can take months and years to develop in the ocean.
The students had free time in the afternoons to rest, play basketball and socialise. After dinner, Sean (current Year 11) would gather the students in the hall and run an awards session. Each night the students nominated each other and deliberated over who was most deserving of the following awards. Kill Them With Kindness - the award for showing kindness to someone else, Kook of the Day - the award for the funniest wipe out or stack, and lastly, Stoke of the Day - for the best wave surfed/most improved surfer of the day. Each evening after the awards, Mrs Smith and Mr Bothma ran reflection and character development activities. These activities got the students to think beyond surfing and about the kind of person they want to become.
The end of the week coincided with a tropical cyclone that put the students in the perfect position to catch the best waves of their life at Snapper Rocks, a session that many of them will remember forever.
Some of the students’ highlights were:
- Evie (current Year 10): “My favourite part of the HPC camp was getting to be trained by the coaches at the camp and getting to surf at new breaks. “
- Max (current Year 9): “ My favourite highlight from HPC was meeting Jack Robinson“
We would like to thank all the parents for supporting the St Luke’s Surf Academy. HPC was an amazing finish to the year, and the students are looking forward to what's to come in 2023.
