Surfer Sally Fitzgibbons in the Burleigh Pro.
Caitlin Foord celebrates with her Australian teammates.
An amazing start to the year continues for the South Coast's best female athletes.
Gerroa surfer Sally Fitzgibbons backed up winning the six-star Burleigh Pro by scoring 16.50 to take out her heat at the Newcastle Surfest yesterday.
Fitzgibbons is chasing her first world title when the tour starts next month, after finishing runner-up the past three years.
"That was a fun heat for me, when you find the right wave there's some fun sections that connect to allow for excellent scores," Fitzgibbons said.
Meanwhile, football World Cup award winner and W-League title winner Caitlin Foord has taken the next step to international stardom by securing a lucrative US contract.
Foord, from Lake Illawarra, will leave for New Jersey on March 11, where she will swap one sky blue club for another.
She will join Sky Blue FC in the US National Women's Soccer League, just weeks after capturing the W-League trophy with Sydney's grand final win over Melbourne Victory.
The 18-year-old knocked back offers from far and wide, including prestigious English powerhouse Liverpool, to sign the one-year deal with an option for a second season with the American club. Swedish club Linkopings FC also made an offer to Foord.
The contract continues Foord's meteoric rise, after she won the 2011 World Cup young player of the year award.
Before departing, Foord will join the Matildas squad in Canberra for a training camp tomorrow.