Keira Buckpitt named to prestigious state team after string of strong performances

The Culburra Beach local was recently named in the 2022 Junior High Performance Program (JHPP) which consists of 52 young surfers between the ages of 12 and 17 years old. This selection marks Buckpitt's third to the JHPP squad.

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The team was put together based on the results of athletes at the State Junior and Grommet Titles, and will provide selected athletes with world-class training and resources to help the young surfers on the path to reaching their full potential.

Buckpitt is one of NSW's most promising and talented up-and-coming surfers. Earlier this year, she represented Australia with the Irukandjis team at the ISA World Junior Surfing Championships in El Salvador.

The local surfing star put forth a gutsy performance overseas, finishing ninth out of 96 competitors, but was annoyed that an unlucky injury cost her from possibly finishing even higher.

At the conclusion of the tournament, Hawaii secured their first gold since 2014, while the strong Aussie team scored silver, with USA notching bronze and France collecting copper.

"It meant everything to me to be on such an awesome team, especially with Australia ranking second out of 45 countries," Buckpitt said.

Buckpitt said the JHPP is a really solid program and feels grateful to have be involved with it for the past several years.

"Every opportunity we got in 2021 helped me this year," Buckpitt said.

"I'm stoked to have made the team again this year and can't wait to get back into the team camps and training."

The JHPP will kick off this weekend locally with the first camp set to run at Merry Beach in Kiola.

The team will represent Team NSW at the Australian Junior Surfing Titles at North Stradbroke Island from November 26 to December 3.