Contestants claim Jesus Pro Am glory

The 2011 Jesus Pro Am Series brought two days of epic surfing and festivities to Cronulla beach on October 8-9.

The final of the two-part competition unveiled Jesus Pro Am series winners in Conner O’Leary, Fraya Prumm, Chris Robertson and Stephanie Single.

Contestants had crowds on their feet as they battled it out in North Cronulla’s two-three foot modest but smooth conditions.

Event organisers were nervous about the quality of the waves and weather given predictions of rain and poor surf.

However, the God who makes the sea obey told the waves to come — providing plenty of rides with huge scoring potential.

The Jesus Pro Am festival in the park brought a great crowd on Saturday, with bands, tarp surfing, a wild life show, skate ramp, jumping castle, free barbecue and cake stall as well as a live broadcast by Hope 103.2.

Meanwhile, in the water, contestants took surfing to a bold new level to claim Jesus Pro Am glory.

The final of the Cadet Boys was a splashy display of dynamic manoeuvres, great flow and commitment. Last year’s winner, Chris Robertson proved he’s still got it — claiming victory with a score of 13.96. The cadet winner added another $500 to his Jesus Pro Am earnings.

“Jesus Pro Am is a really fun competition,” Chris said. “Everyone’s heaps friendly and the free food tent is awesome!”

In the Cadet Girls, Duranbah’s winner Stephanie Single showed inspiring fitness and mature surfing scoring 12.93 to take out the final and the Cadet prize pool of $500.

In the Women’s, the Gold Coast’s Fraya Prumm put on a show of innovative surfing, narrowly beating last year’s winner of the Women’s and Girls’ division, Ellie-Jean Coffee.

Fraya’s lucky day

During the presentation, Fraya told spectators, “This is my lucky day!”

Not only did Fraya claim Jesus Pro Am glory but she also picked up the lucky door prize: a free trip to the Maldives.

The Open division first prize of $1,000 will prove useful spending money for her exotic, surfing escape.

The Open Men’s was a celebration of home-grown magic as Cronulla locals Conner O’Leary and Kirk Kiggens showed crowds why they deserve to be named 2011 Jesus Pro Am champion. Conner O’Leary proved too tough a match showcasing air grabs and massive vertical reos and cutbacks to score 8+ on his first wave followed by a 9 later in the heat.

A renowned talent, Kiggens waited patiently but with 11 minutes left on the clock it seemed the ocean had turned off the tap. Conner O’Leary made a convincing bid and claimed the Jesus Pro Am Cronulla 2011 Open Men’s Champion.

Thanking organisers, judges and his sponsors, Conner said, “Thanks for an awesome competition and to all the boys ripping — all weekend.”

All on the line

He later said, “Jesus Pro Am attracts solid surfing talent — the competition pushes you to put it all on the line.”

A much anticipated Jesus Pro Am feature, the aerial show on Sunday, wowed crowds with huge airs and massive spray.

Cronulla local Dyl Hayler provided a visual feast with a big boost and double hand rail grab but it was Insight sponsored indigenous surfer Otis Carey who had the beach on their feet with a vertical snap and two air reverses taking out the prize draw of $350.

Sponsor RB Shapes not only provided Board Jam — an opportunity to test run different boards — they also donated a free surfboard, much to the pleasure of Stanwell Park’s April Broughton who won.

Jesus Pro Am Cronulla was a huge success.

During the Presentation, Christian Surfers Regional Coordinator Dave Lovell reminded the crowd that, “Today we saw incredible surfing talent with manoeuvres that wowed the crowd. Jesus has blessed each of us with different talents. You can do great things with those talents in your own strength, but you can do mind blowing things in God’s strength.”

Supporter and sponsor World Vision was active at Jesus Pro Am, seeking out 250 signatures on the “Paddle Against Poverty” surfboard.

The surf craft petition is still to attain the signatures of surfing pros and 150 more surfers from around Australia.

“We’ll take this surfboard to Canberra,” a World Vision spokes person said. “Paddle Against Poverty is all about giving surfers a voice in the political realm. We want to tell our leaders that we will not stand by and watch people around the world suffer due to poverty and natural disaster.”

About Jesus Pro Am

The Jesus Pro Am is a professional/amateur surf competition run by Christian Surfers Australia.

In 2011, the Jesus Pro Am has been running consecutively for 27 years. Jesus Pro Am has become a favoured surfing event on the calendar for many of Australia’s best surfers. Its aim is to provide a professional ran competition, which blesses the surfers, spectators and builds into the local surfing community.