Based on Beach Road in the heart of Perranporth, Stoked has been growing steadily since head coach Julian launched it in 2022. With indoor changing facilities, storage lockers and an outdoor shower, it’s a great hub for surfers of all ages and abilities.
I met up with Julian to find out more about Grom Squad, an initiative he’s launched to get a group of kids from the local community out on the water. It started with a group of Perran adults, the aptly named ‘Stokals’, being set up on a run of lessons as a community concept. Inevitably, the group ended up welcoming local parents who were keen for their kids to follow in their wetsuit-booted footsteps. And so the Grom Squad was born.
Learning via Loops
Local parents can buy a course of six reduced-rate sessions and spread them out throughout the course of a year. Using his own Loop band initiative, Julian takes surfers through seven key aspects of expertise, guiding them through a visual journey of how far they’ve come. After a run of six sessions, each participant gets assessed and given a ‘Loop’ band to denote their surfing ability.
Julian says: “What’s really nice about it is we make it fun, the essence is totally different to that of an adult’s lesson, so we include beach games and they love going in Chapel Rock pool. It’s great for them to let off a bit of steam and work on water confidence. Jumping in, splashing each other. Trying to drown me!”
Safety first
Julian clearly gets a lot out of working with the next generation of keen surfers. But it’s all firmly rooted in education: “We always go through, using the Loop system, the basics of surfing, keeping safe in an ocean environment, getting them to understand the beach, the tides, the wind, the surf report, filtering through these little bits and getting them thinking more carefully.”
The Grom Squad is gaining more and more traction in the local community, as budding groms spread the word among their friends and encourage them to come along. Everything’s included and Stoked HQ is well equipped with suits, boards and accessories for surfers of all ages.
If you have an aspiring young surfer in your clan, get in touch with Julian via stokedsurfschool.co.uk and he’ll see about adding them to the squad.