Six paddle boards have been donated to Tauranga Girls' College with the aim of getting more youth competing in water sports.

The Waterbourne Charitable Trust, which runs the Warerbourne Beach Festival, is working with the college to bring a program for the students which provides free coaching and equipment to try different water sports.

The trust is also aiming to improve water safety in Tauranga.

Alongside coaching, Waterbourne has also donated six paddle boards to the college, providing opportunities for students to try the sports and represent the college around New Zealand.

'Our goal is to get more youth on the water safely. We cannot wait to bring more programs like this to life, providing opportunities for students to try a range of sports both within the Waterbourne Beach Festival, but also within their own schedule,” says event founder Laurence Carey.

'Thanks to the support of Sport Bay of Plenty, six paddle boards have been donated to the school, enabling students to learn and train on the boards.

'These boards fit into a wider program which Waterbourne is encouraging alongside New Zealand Stand Up Paddle Boarding, where there is a one design equipment to limit the barriers to entry.”

After having the school program delayed multiple times due to Covid-19, students will be able to take part next summer during the Waterbourne, which is expected to take place in March.

'We are really appreciative of Waterbourne for supplying the Sports Department with these paddle boards. They will provide our students with great extra-curricular opportunities that we are so grateful for and many would not be able to experience otherwise,” says Tauranga Girls' College head of sport Kaye Barnett.

'We hope with these boards we will also be able help get more students into competing in Stand Up Paddle Boarding competitions.”

These boards are suitable for youth to learn the fundamentals of stand up paddle board racing, where they can then progress to more advanced equipment once they want to push their limits and race in open categories.

Laurence says this summer's Waterbourne Festival will bring something very unique to the region, with international athletes attending.

'We have some very exciting news coming soon, where we expect to see the top 100 athletes from around the world competing for the first time in New Zealand as part of the Waterbourne Beach Festival.

'Bringing internationally significant events to Waterbourne is part of our strategy to showcase the elite side of the sports involved, alongside mass participation… and we cannot wait to announce what World Cup event we have coming in 2023.”

Waterbourne attracted more than 10,000 spectators to this year's 2022 event on Mount Main Beach.

Organisers expect to attract more than 20,000 people each weekend in 2023 with no Covid restrictions.

'Waterbourne has a large audience outside the Tauranga region where more than 80 per cent of athletes are from outside the region, primarily from Aukland,” says Laurance.

'Although we were unable to go ahead with the concerts this year, more than 60 per cent of tickets sold to our 5000 person concert were from outside the Bay of Plenty, providing a huge GDP benefit to the region.”