Reigning world surfing champion Mick Fanning was the king of the kids when he visited Wollongong yesterday.
Fanning was at Surf Dive 'n' Ski in Crown Central to promote the Red Bull Junior Surf Masters series that kicks off at Werri Beach this weekend.
Werri Beach is one of five venues in NSW where qualifying events for surfers aged between 15 and 19 years will take place.
The top four surfers from each event will then be invited to battle it out on the water at the Red Bull Junior Surf Masters Trials at Queenscliff, where Fanning will attend on Friday, August 29.
The top four from the trials will then compete against 16 junior pro surfers selected by Fanning in an innovative format called Torched.
Fanning said this was definitely a good opportunity for the kids to develop their surfing.
"With the trials going on up and down the state and the 20 entries into the main event where they can surf against the best juniors pretty much in Australia right now, yes, it's a massive opportunity for those kids that are just starting out their careers for sure," Fanning said.
This weekend's series opener presents the chance for juniors from the Illawarra and South Coast to showcase their talent.
"There's a lot of kids out there right now that are not as well known as someone like Julian Wilson or Owen Wright, so it's a really good chance for those kids that are up and coming to go out there and show what they've got," Fanning added.
He said at this stage the Junior Surf Masters was concentrating on NSW and if it was a big success it could go national or it could even come into the pro ranks.
"Hopefully it will go really well and we can get a bigger budget and keep getting bigger and better each year," he said.
Fanning said he was impressed with the standard of young surfers these days.
"They're amazing. I watch all the young kids on videos all the time, like you've got your main juniors as with Julian, Owen Wright, Matt Wilkinson ... those kids have set some of the highest standards in the world right now," Fanning said.
To have another wave of Australian surfers coming through to follow in his footsteps is encouraging for Australian surfing.
"At the moment I haven't seen too much of kids overseas, but the kids that we have in Australia right now are definitely up there with the best in the world," Fanning said.
Fanning was a promising teenager when he came to Wollongong in 1999 and, at the age of 17, won the world's richest one-day event, the $100,000 Konica/Surf Dive 'n' Ski All Stars Surfing Arena - known as the Skins -at Sandon Point.
He earned $21,000 for his radical manoeuvres in the contest, conceived and promoted by the late Roy Norris, and it was the beginning of a future that would ultimately take him to the 2007 world title.
"That was really huge. I remember that well. It's always good to get back to where there has been a lot of success for myself," he said.
"I haven't been to Wollongong for a couple of years now so it's good to be able to catch up with a couple of mates as well."
On the present ASP World Championship Tour ratings, Fanning is seventh and he is confident of eating into Kelly Slater's big lead with four contests down and seven to go this year.
"The first half of the year for me was really busy. I was non-stop with media and I got married and there was just so much going on. I didn't really sit down and focus for my events," Fanning said.
"I've had another five weeks off now and feeling really good and I'm really excited about getting to J-Bay next week and hopefully start pegging Kelly back.
"I've got a good base - a second and a couple of fifths. I'll get rid of that 33rd (placing) pretty easily - yeah, it's going to be good to just go over and I feel like my surfing is the best it's been.
"So, yeah, I'm really excited."