There’s something really cool about a human that absolutely rips before they even have a driver’s license. Actually, there are a lot of cool things about it.
Every surfer isn’t lucky enough to have been born into a lineup, catching and riding their first waves during early grade school years. Add that to the sport’s mind-numbingly gruesome learning curve, and some of us can go at it well into adulthood before we ever feel like we’re any good. Now let’s consider the kids who just seemed to skip through all that nonsense and make surfing look embarrassingly easy while navigating their first growth spurt. It’s a pretty unique experience to be this good at a young age, and Hurley’s Youth series is a pretty darn good showcase of that. No in depth stories with all the frills; just a bunch of talented groms who are way ahead of the game, doing their thing.
Eli Hanneman, Winter Vincent, Bronson Meidy, and Dean Vanderwalle are four of Oz’s most promising young surfers, all between the ages of 12 and 15 years old. Sure, it’s impressive. They’re proof that the sport is getting better at a younger age more often now. While the high performance bar is constantly being raised, it’s simultaneously being reached quicker by some athletes. So if these four groms are a look into surfing’s future then well, the future of surfing is looking pretty good.
