Juninho Urcia

Peruvian-born Juninho Urcia, winner of an Individual ISA Scholarship for three consecutive years, immortalized his name in his country’s surfing history last month. Urcia, at only 14 years of age, became the youngest surfer to win an Open category event on the Peruvian National Tour.

If this was not enough, Urcia also won in the Under 16 and Under 14 categories.  This proves, once again, that the ISA’s Individual Scholarship program is an extremely vital tool for the development of young surfers around the world.  Juninho says it in his own words, in the following interview with ISA’s Press Department.

How does it feel to make history in your country being the youngest athlete to win an Open?
To win the Open category at my age has really been a reward for a lot of effort and work I’ve been carrying out for eight years, here in my dear Huanchaco, Peru.  It makes me even happier to make history in the sport I love the most, Surfing.

In your opinion, what was the biggest factor that helped you win in the three divisions?
The most deciding factor was to train, to be fully motivated, and concentrated in what I was doing during the series in each division.

It must have been an exhausting weekend.  Tell us how many series you competed in during the entire weekend and which were the most difficult.
Yes, it was a highly strenuous week because I was thinking about my main category, that is the Under 14, and also competing in the Under 16, since next year it will be my category. Then, I luckily decided to compete in the Open, since it is the hardest category due to the level of surfing there.

If I’m not mistaken, I surfed in twelve series during the two days of competition.  In the Under 14 I had a hard final against Del Castillo, Correa and Tudela.

In the Under 16 starting in the quarterfinals, semifinal and final it was extra intense because the junior level in Peru is advancing at gigantic steps and if you get distracted they turn the result over in seconds.

In the Open category since the very beginning I ran my series as if they were finals, since the level there is much higher. This meant I had to improve my performance to find my surfing and the waves if I wanted to win.  Thank God, good results came out.

How do you imagine the older guys felt when they lost to you?
The older guys are great, they wish me well, more than winning, and it was a matter of experience.  They are professionals both in and out the sea.  At the awards ceremony they congratulated me on the outstanding feat, which I took with a lot of respect.

You are the only person to obtain an ISA Scholarship for the last three consecutive years , how do you feel this has affected your surfing career?
As I live on my native beach in the north of Peru – Huanchaco – together with my family, we applied for the grant program.  When we heard the news that I had been chosen among many countries to be a member of that institution, I was very happy. For the first time I had been given an opportunity.  And then I promised to continue studying and surfing.

In the meantime, the ISA has influenced my career a lot, because I still dream of becoming a professional surfer in the long run, and a sporting body as grand as the ISA in the surfing world still trusts me.  The only thing I can say is thank you for their trust in me.

Do you feel something is still missing to continue evolving well, as things are today?
Peru as well as Latin America is a wave heaven but not an economic one; the opportunities that come your way are always minimal.  To travel and compete internationally there’s not a so-called private enterprise that can help the athletes that give their hearts to their countries.  I hope this situation changes one day for the future generations.

Thanks to God, my family and the ISA and my sponsors I am evolving little by little in my surfing career.  The only thing I am missing is the sponsorship of a private firm in order to be able to travel internationally, continue representing Peru, gain more competition experience and be as Villarán or Sofia some day.

Where do you want to go with your surfing?
I want to go as far as I can, continue training, but first I have to finish school, have a career and travel to the Junior Championships, WQS and reach the ASP World Tour.

All these things have their timing; the only thing to do is continue working hard as I can, continue working and just moving forward.

About the International Surfing Association (ISA)
The International Surfing Association (ISA) is recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) as the World Governing Authority for Surfing. It was originally founded as the International Surfing Federation in 1964 and has been running world championships since 1964 and the Junior World Championships since 1980.

ISA membership includes the surfing National Governing Bodies (NGBs) of over 50 countries on six continents. Its headquarters are located in La Jolla, California. It is presided by Fernando Aguerre, first elected in 1994 in Rio, and re-elected six times since. The ISA's four Vice Presidents are Alan Atkins (Australia), Robin de Kock (South Africa), Mike Gerard (USA) and Karín Sierralta (Peru).

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