Sideline Sid - Sports blogger Sideline Sid is a local sport fanatic. Not only is he a classic rugby bloke but he has views, opinions and knowledge on all sports played in the Bay of Plenty.

A few weeks ago Sideline Sid rambled on about the brilliant holiday sporting programme in the Bay that started with the King (and Queen) of the Mountain, which traversed the beautiful and majestic Mount Maunganui and has a number of iconic sporting events during January.

Carrying on from the holiday calendar – Surf Lifesaving has taken centre stage on the main beach at the Mount during late January/February.

The Northern Regional Surf Lifesaving championships at Auckland Anniversary weekend brought about 800 surf sport athletes from around the country to compete at the Mount.

Second only to the National championships in numbers and prestige, the event is still just the entrée to the showcase of surf sport in the country, which is staged a couple of weeks later.

The Lion Foundation Surf League, which was held two weekends ago, brings all the countries elite surf athletes together for two days of head to head competition. A non-stop three-hour programme of thrills and spills, saw provincial representative teams battle for the honour of top dog.

The real visual attraction for spectators, is the bringing together of beach and water events with the razzmatazz of IRB (Inshore Rescue Boat) racing. There is nothing more exciting than the IRB's pinging through big waves, as the race out and back around the turn buoys.

Beach sprints and relays are a frenetic blur of action, while there is always carnage in the beach flags. However, taking centre stage during the two days of competition is the glamour iron man event. A combination of ski, board and swim legs, the gruelling races usually turn into a race of attrition.

Surf Lifesaving was put on the mainstream sporting stage in the country by the performances of Cory Hutchings. Three World Iron Man titles, along with a record number of National and Surf League iron man crowns, tell the tale of a Kiwi who has become a household name in New Zealand.

This weekend up to 800 youngsters will be endeavouring to follow in the footsteps of Cory Hutchings. The New Zealand Ocean Athletes will bring together the best 10-14 year old surf youngsters in New Zealand in the country.

New Zealand can lay claim to being second in the world (behind Australia) in surf sport competition. A major factor in the strength of the sport in the country is the competition pathway that takes youngsters from junior surf to senior competition.

Nippers, which evolved into the junior surf program, were first brought to New Zealand by a Mount Maunganui surf club member. In 1968 former Australian Bob Mitchell, who had seen surf nippers in operation in Oz, explained his vision for youngsters between the ages of five and 12 years to be taught water safety and more importantly confidence in the surf by way of competition.

From humble beginnings in the 1960s, the New Zealand junior surf programme is one of the biggest summer junior sport programmes in the country.

Starting on Thursday afternoon and running through to Sunday, the Ocean Athletes is well worth a stroll to the main Mount beach to view the best age group surf youngsters in pursuit of glory.

Seeya at the Game.