Jersey surf prodigy vies for spot on English Junior Surf Squad

Tuesday 05 June 2018

A 15-year-old local surfer is hoping to get a spot on the English Junior Surf Squad in Spain at the Junior European Championships - and then go all the way to California for the Junior World Championships in October.

Will Masterman won the under 16's English National Surf Championships in May and came third in the first Rip Curl 'Grom' in Jersey over the weekend.

Between Will and surfing, it was love at first wave. The teen got the bug for the sport when he was just eight, during a trial lesson with friends at the Splash Surf Centre. "I cannot remember who it was with," Will says. "I can't even remember my first year surfing but I must have liked it."

His dad, Mark, remembers that the next summer, all Will wanted to do was go to down to St. Ouen and surf. "I surfed for a year when I was in my early 20s and I still had my old longboard so Will asked to borrow it,” explains Mark. “As he progressed, we started buying different smaller boards. I used to push him in the waves but he started doing more and more on his own. Now, I just sit on the beach and film so that Will can analyse and see where he went wrong.”

Pictured: Will first took to the board when he was just eight.

At the age of 12, Will started training with a UK coach based in Cornwall, along with other young surfers who showed potential in competitions. The following year, his first one competing, he attended two Ripcurl Grom Searches and reached three semi-finals. Since then, he has been taking part in up to five competitions a year, mostly abroad. Mark explains: "There is no competition over here. To improve you have to go overseas so you can face surfers that are as good or better than you. We threw ourselves in doing as many as possible. It's an awful lot of travelling and it is very expensive for us."

When he is not in the water, he skates and trains twice a week at Pisces Gym and once a week at Thai Boxing to stay in shape. He also travels a lot, for competitions and for training. Luckily, his teachers at Hautlieu have been supportive. Will says: "They are normally happy with me being away because it is for sport. It's sometimes hard to catch up when I come back but some teachers have helped me. It hasn't affected my grades, I don't think I would have better ones if I wasn't surfing."

Video: Surfing has taken Will all around the world, including to Costa Rica.

He took second place at the British National Surf Championships under 14 in his second competing year. The following year he won the English National Surf Championships and was a joint winner of the UK Pro Surf Tour. 

In 2016, he was selected in the Surfing GB Junior Squad and achieved third place at the English National Surf Championships for under 18's as well as the second place at the British National Surf Championships for under 14's. He was the highest placed under 14 UK surfer at the European Surf Federation Championships in Morocco, where he represented the Channel Islands team and ranked seventh. 

Pictured: Will collecting his under 16's English National Surf Champion title.

Last year, Will decided to take things to the next level and to join the European Competition. He started training with Didier Piter, a four times European champion turned coach, in Hossegor. He also started competing in the WSL European Pro Junior Event, where he is currently ranked joint 47th out of over 180 surfers. 

With his GCSE's now nearly completed, Will plans to attend all of the WSL European Pro Juniors events to then step on to the WSL Qualifying Series. He is also vying for a spot with the English Junior Surf Squad to represent England at the Junior European Championships in Spain as well as the Junior World Championships in California in October.

Pictured: Will hopes to become a professional surfer, or at least be involved in surfing as part of his career.

Unsurprisingly, Will’s long-term plans involve surfing, but not necessarily university. "Hopefully I would like to be a professional surfer, that would be the dream," the teen says. "But if that doesn't happen, I would like to still be involved with surfing, perhaps become a coach and go around Europe. I would also love to work for a surf brand. I did my work experiences at the Rip Curl headquarters in Hossegor so that gave me a good insight of what happens behind the scenes. It was never really said that I needed to go to uni. There are no courses that I would be interested in. I want to see what comes out of surfing."

"University is not the end goal for Will," adds Mark. "I believe that it is more about the connections you make early on in life, they will carry you on in life. We will see what happens after A-levels."

Pictured: With 12 weeks of holidays, Will is hoping to get a lot of hours of surfing this summer.

For now, Will is getting ready to enjoy a long summer of 12 weeks. It will include at least one competition in Spain but also some work in surf schools. Will is currently training to obtain a coaching and lifeguarding certificate that will set him up for working. First and foremost, it will include hours in the water. As Mark says, Will "lives his whole life surfing."