Julia’s New Skills Earn Her Competitive Success

A few months ago we had Julia “the grom” Van Raalte participate in a retreat in Nicaragua. We worked with her on competitive strategy like waiting for the biggest waves, and surfing strategy like going all the way to the bottom then all the way to the top of the wave. I got really excited to receive the following email from her talking about her newfound competitive success. See below and cheer with us for Julia!

Hey Holly,
 
Just wanted to tell you about some of my latest happenings. I recently competed in the year’s first ESA comp and had a great time. I followed your advice to put my sick middle-turns away, and placed 2nd in my age group, and then 2nd again in the Open Women’s division. For the latter, I won $300! It was so much fun to be at the beach, see friends, and make new one’s while catching some cute waves! Attached are pictures of my best wave from the Women’s Open heat and one of the awards announcement for Open.
Women's open award IMG_0961 - bottom
 
On a slightly different, but equally exciting note, my Dwart came in, and it is absolutely beautiful! I’m going to paint it up this weekend and hopefully send you a picture or two of the finished product.
Grom

 

 

To see the video from Julia’s retreat click here.

Thanks from the Grom

“Grom” = A young surfer, usually under 15 years old, with ample excited energy who always wants to go surfing.

A few retreats ago we had a Grom by the name of Julia spend a week in Nicaragua. You can check out the video footage of her here.

It’s always fun to get messages of thanks after retreats, especially messages that show such continued excitement and desires to continue improving. Here’s one from Julia.

Julia fell in love with my 5'4 Rusty Dwart Quad
Julia fell in love with my 5’4 Rusty Dwart Quad

 

Dear Holly,

I really appreciate all the help you gave me when I was in Nicaragua. I had such a good time and my surfing progressed so much. After every video coaching session, I wrote down notes so I could keep working at home. Also, thank you for letting me ride your amazing Dwart. Dad contacted the guys at Rusty and we are looking into getting one, possibly with the exact same dimensions as yours! Not only did I have a fabulous time surfing with you guys, I also had such a great time bonding with everyone at the camp, especially Jackie, Nikki, and Jamrock. I had such a great time that I cried when we left El Coco Loco and when the plane took off from Managua.  Y’all’s taking the time to hang with me was really special. Attached are several pictures that Dad took that we thought you’d like.

Grom

Julia watching and listening to the video coaching feedback.
Julia watching and listening to the video coaching feedback.