Earlier this month, we sat down with members of JBBC ahead of their upcoming 40th anniversary to look back on their rich history and to get an insight into what their club is all about.
Jones Beach Boardriders (JBBC) are located at Jones Beach, just north of Kiama. Officially formed in 1983, it was founded by Mark Way along with some assistance from others who jumped over from Kiama BRC as Kiama was more notorious for being a ‘social club’. Mark explained that when he moved from Kiama to Jones Beach in 1979 there were some red hot local surfers who were deprived of a competitive surfing experience. According to Mark he wanted to further their experience in the competitive surfing environment.
“JBBC soon started excelling in competition and attracted the best surfers from the immediate area, including the likes of Michael Lowe and Chris Homer,” said Mark.
The club has now blossomed with around 180 members, mostly made up of grommets and juniors developing a love for surfing. JBBC is still competing at a National level amongst some of the most successful clubs in Australia.
In February 2023, JBBC placed sixth at the Australian Boardriders Battle National Final in Newcastle where longtime member Joel Trist said the recent result was a highlight for the club. Continuing the glory, April of 2023 saw JBBC place second in the Surfing of Origin event at Burleigh Heads. Joel explained that these events were a great opportunity to showcase the talent and culture of their club.
“We have a great team spirit and high-performance surfers in all divisions.”
JBBC were also thrilled to be selected to support Surfing NSW to host a Her Wave Teams Classic event in April 2023 at Jones Beach, where we saw 21 teams compete, each team consisting of eight females. Three of those 21 teams were formed by JBBC members, where they are proud to share they have 65 female members of their club.
When it comes to Jones Beach up-and-comers, Mark says there’s plenty of talent to keep your eyes on.
“We are proud that high performance surfers like Lennix Smith and Oceanna Rogers choose to be active members of our club. We’re also excited about the future of JBBC groms Dayan Conti, Jacob Wilton, Erin Willets, Alice Hodgson and Lani Cairncross. We have some high performing masters in the mix with Matt Thompson and Bruce Flint. The inspirational Brett Connellan is also a longtime member of JBBC.”
On September 16th this year (2023) Jones Beach Boardriders Club will be celebrating its 40th anniversary as a club, with a celebration at the Kiama Downs Surf Life Saving Club for all current and former members and supporters to attend. For more information, please see here.
We can’t wait to see what the future for JBBC holds and look forward to supporting them for another 40 years!
