WORLD Surf League (WSL) surfer Laura Enever and 2012 world champion Joel Parkinson visited Casuarina this week to help usher in Australia’s next generation of champion surfers.

The duo, ambassadors for the Subway Surf Series, were mentoring the elite Aussie junior competitors at a three day Subway Surf Camp at the Hurley Surfing Australia High performance Centre (HPC).

Parkinson and Enever were joined by the cream of Australia’s under 18 surfing crop, who were all winners of three-non qualifying events in the Subway Surf Series, including Kirra’s Ren Hashimoto and Kingscliff’s Blake Neka.

Groms were mentored for the entirety of the camp by the pair and Parkinson said he embraced the opportunity to play a role for the up and coming surfers.

“It’s exciting to be part of events like this, giving groms that extra edge next time they compete,” Parkinson said.

“There’s some really talented youngsters and it’s great to see how they’re developing.”

Parkinson said the camp was playing a vital part in providing young groms with a specific pathway to success.

“The way Subway have come on board lays a really good platform for their future and they’re coming on in leaps and bounds,” he said.

Enever, who also offered her mentoring skills at the last camp 12 months ago, said it felt like just yesterday she was at Casuarina helping to develop the previous crop of junior talent.

She said it was great to be able to hang out and help boost the kids’ confidence.

Hashimoto, who moved to Australia four years ago, took her place in the camp after a strong start to the year with a quarter-final appearance at the Subway Pro Junior in January.

The 17-year-old said having surfers of the calibre of Parkinson and Enever on hand was thrilling and her goal was to emulate their careers.

“Joel and Laura are great,” Hashimoto said. “They give me tips and I want to be just like them.”

The camp was created to fill a competition void at a crucial point in the development of Australia’s leading junior surfers. The Subway Pro Series’ next event begins at Avoca this Saturday, before wrapping up at Cronulla in May.