The Quiksilver King of the Groms is the major worldwide tour for surfers in the U16 category. The leading competition for elite young surfers from around the world for over 20 years, the event remains a veritable rite of passage for budding talents hoping to embark upon a professional career.
Jérémy Florès (Fra), Aritz Aranburu (Euk), Taj Burrow (Aus) or Miky Picon (Fra) all came to prominence in this contest. More recently, Reunion's Maxime Huscenot, who became ASP Junior World Champion 2010 in Narabeen, and Brazil's Gabriel Medina who took the ISA World Champion title in January, both achieved their first successes on the international stage at the King of the Groms, before going on to hugely promising pro careers.
Selected in some 20 countries on every continent throughout the spring of 2010, the current 18 best young surfers around will come together next September in south-west France, during the Quiksilver Pro France 2010 (the only French leg of the ASP World Tour), to compete in the International Final of the King of the Groms, in the same
conditions as the world's top senior male surfers.
As a prelude to the International Final, the European tour consisting of 14 stages will have its very own final, to be held in Zarautz on the Basque Coast in early August, where two European surfers will be selected to go through to the Final of the King of The Groms 2010. The European Series will kick off in May in the French Antilles and Canaries, and will continue across the continent through June and July (see schedule below).
For the first time Morocco enters the euro series.King of the Groms European Tour:
France
La Torche – June 12/13
Capbreton – July 17/18
UK
Fistral Beach (Newquay) – June
5/6
Ireland
Rossnowlah – June 12/13
Italy
Anzio (Rome) - June 15/July15
Spain
Razo (Galicia) – July 10/11
Somo (Cantabria) – July 17/18
Portugal
Peniche – June 5/6
Morocco
Tahiti Beach / Casablanca – June 19/20
Canary Islands
Las Palmas – May 28/30
Tenerife – June 4/6
French Antilles
Guadeloupe – May 1/2
St Martin – May 8/9
Martinique – May 15/16
European Final: July 30/31, 2010 in Zarautz (Euk)
Outside Europe, the King of the Groms is already under way. Qualifying sessions for the World Final have already been held in biggest surf territories like Argentina, for the first time, in Australia, New- Zealand, South Africa, Indonesia or Tahiti. The next stages are scheduled for the spring in Brazil, the United States and Indonesia, among others. Altogether, 14 international surfers (from outside Europe) will be selected to take part in the World Final in late September.
