French Groms Surf With Heroes » Frothing

Prepping to impress ... The lucky grommits© 2009 - World Pro Surfers

A prime example being Jonas Balhan, an Austrian kid from nearby Seignosse, whose dad works in Portugal.

When 11-year-old Balhan paddled in for an autograph he received the highest accolade from none other than 2001 World Champ, CJ Hobgood, who stated matter of factly, "Kid, you got style, you were absolutely flowing out there."

World #16 Mick Campbell shook his head, "These groms are pulling air reverses like we do re-entries, it's second nature
for them: the standard in Europe is going to get pretty crazy when you've got 10-year-olds surfing like this now."

Eleven-year-old local Victor Trehet laughed: "We try to surf our best in front of them.

"We have all been dreaming for many weeks, and today it is exactly like a dream to catch a wave with these guys."

After a couple of hours exchanging waves, the kids hosted their heroes at their clubhouse just over the dunes for a
hit-out on the ping pong table.

The "Surf With The Pros" day -- the surfing equivalent of a young golfer playing a round with Tiger Woods -- is put
together by the pros through their athletes' union World Professional Surfers, and is the brainchild of 2007 World Champ
Mick Fanning.

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