Surfers from three Illawarra high schools are gearing up for this month's Australian Interschools Surfing Championships.

Illawarra Sports High School, The Illawarra Grammar School (TIGS) and Bulli High School will send students to the inaugural event at Surfers Paradise in Queensland from May 22 to 24.

"Surfing is one of the most participated sports in Australia, with over 2.5 million surfers,” said Luke Madden, Surfing Australia’s Chief of Sport.

“Surfing Australia has recognised a significant gap in our development pathway at the school surfing level and established this event to address it.

“For some, this event could mark the beginning of their journey to [the Olympics in] Brisbane 2032.”

The two-day event will encompass team and individual competitions, mirroring the Australian Boardriders Battle format.

“It's definitely interesting and a new platform for us to have a look at and engage in,” said Geoff Latimer, director of surfing at Illawarra Sports High School.

“One thing will be putting them around other higher calibre surfing athletes from other schools to see other skill-sets from other athletes.

“Plus, there looks like there'll be some training opportunities in and around the event for our athletes as well.”

Illawarra Sports High School started its surfing program about 12 years ago and aims to provide talented young surfers with a chance to enhance their skills while pursuing education.

They implement a comprehensive training regimen, including weekly strength and conditioning sessions with tailored programs. Training varies based on upcoming events and weather conditions are always a factor.

“The weekly surf training is hopefully to help the students to reach their athletic goals,” Geoff said.

The school has a host of talented surfers in the program, such as the Air brothers, Cruz and Taj, Ashton Mick and others, all poised to make their mark at the May event.

“We've got a magnitude of athletes that'll be all good to watch up there,” Geoff said.

TIGS is a private school with about 1000 students, a strong academic focus and a diverse sports program.

The school's surfing program offers regular Thursday sessions that cater to beginners and experienced surfers. Additionally, the school collaborates with Pines Surfing Academy to provide specialised training for higher-ranked surfers.

Students Sammy Lowee and Joe Sommerville have each been making an impression on the Australian Youth rankings circuit. Sammy is ranked no. 5 for the men's 18s and Joe is ranked 21 in the men’s 16s. Both surfers are aiming to represent TIGS with distinction at the interschools event.

“Wollongong has got a really great reputation for producing excellent surfers; obviously, Sally Fitzgibbons comes to mind,” said Adrian Deck, the Head of Sport at TIGS.

“It's always nice to come from a smaller town and represent that high level and sort of help continue to put Wollongong on the map, which is great.”

For a long time, Bulli High School had no dedicated program for its talented surfers. Now, with the introduction of the elite surf programme, students gain access to training, enabling them to take part in major competitions such as the Australian Interschools Surfing Championships.

“A lot of them haven't really been supported that much in the past,” said Benjamin Deans, who runs the program and has also been a science and marine studies teacher at the school for 12 years.

“So we've decided to start up a program to nurture some of the best young talent in the local area.”

Training consists of a weekly session on Wednesday with surf coach Nic Squiers. This is filmed so the surfers can address aspects of their performance they may need to improve. They also attend frequent morning strength and conditioning sessions, and take part in mock heats to simulate real competition.

The program has helped some exceptional young surfers, with the girls in particular consistently producing good results.

“I feel like they're developing really quickly,” Ben said.

“We've got a good bunch of year 10 girls that are really keen.”

For Bulli High School students, the opportunity to compete against other top talent and represent the Illawarra is huge motivation.

“A lot of Sydney schools, a lot of Sydney surfers, and the Gold Coast in particular, are sort of hot spots for the new talent,” Ben said.

“So it's really good to get our name out there.”