CS Rivals

It's finally back, the event that brings the GRIT back into CS. 

This is your opportunity to gather your buddies, travel the coast and slay some challenges along the way. Based off the Stab High Way concept, we have come up with our own crazy challenges that we want you to do. 

All you need is: 

• 4-5 crew in your team

• Complete a bunch of challenges during the time for points 

• Film and send in your challenges 

• Be the team with the most points by the end 

WHERE & WHEN: You can do this from ANYWHERE! But if you're free and want to join a bunch of crew doing the same trip, we are starting on Friday 25 September 6PM at 276 Middle Boambee Road, Boambee, NSW. We will be finishing Sunday 27 September 7PM in somewhere south of that (either Old Bar, Forster or Newcastle). If you're not joining us in the flesh, you can still do the challenges from where ever you are in AUS. More info in the rego link above. 

NG27 Phillip Island - Save the date!

Stay tuned for National Gathering 2027 - Phillip Island Victoria.

Venue: Phillip Island Adventure Resort https://piar.cyc.org.au Thursday 25th March - Monday 29th March

Tickets will be released soon!!

Surfathon

The global Surfathon is happening again soon from the 17-31st October 2026. This event raises money for the Surfers Bible production. The Surfers Bible is the New Testament in the New Living Translation. Between the books of the Bible are stories of pro surfers and shapers sharing about who they are now because of Jesus. You can go solo or do this as a teams event, or simply donate to support this great initiative. More info in the QR code or button link above. 

QLD Regional Camp 2026

It was so beautiful seeing faces from all across the region come together for such a special weekend.

Just one week before camp, we only had 20 people signed up. By the weekend, we ended up welcoming around 80 people from across the Queensland coastline. It was incredible to see how God brought it all together.

The weather had been forecast to be overcast and raining, but as the weekend drew closer, the forecast completely turned around. We were blessed with sunshine for almost the entire camp and spent a beautiful Saturday down at the beach.

Sam and Ezra hosted an epic surf comp, and it was so good seeing everyone laughing, getting involved and having fun together. The afternoon rolled into a vibrant game of volleyball before we all came together in the evening for an almighty feast prepared by Jono Vink.

After dinner, I had the privilege of sharing my testimony and a word for the coast that I felt the Lord had placed on my heart. From there, we moved into a beautiful time of worship, praising Jesus together under the moon and stars.

Overall, it was such a special weekend filled with incredible people, deep community, plenty of laughs and moments we won’t forget.

So thankful for every person who came, served, prayed, cooked, surfed, worshipped and helped make the weekend what it was.

Most of all, we’re thankful to Jesus! For what He has already grown across this coast and for what He is continuing to do."

Jared Mason, Christian Surfers QLD Regional Coordinator.

National New Swell - Sydney, January 2027

Preparations are officially underway for our upcoming National New Swell Camp in Sydney this January. Marking Year 3 in the national cycle, this camp will bring together leaders representing nearly every state across Australia, with 25+ crew expected on site.

Over the past decade across Australia and New Zealand, New Swell has delivered over 150 training sessions and equipped more than 600 graduates to step into leadership. Building on this foundation, the framework is now expanding globally.

As part of this rollout, the New Swell team will also be also hosting 2–3 key international leaders from the EMEA and Americas regions at the Sydney camp. Run as an invitation-only, hands-on environment centered on our core values, the camp will equip these leaders with practical discipleship tools so they can take the New Swell framework back to establish sustainable leadership pipelines in their home nations.

All core documents, digital media, and video assets have been finalised, and the official Information Booklet is currently being translated into 6+ languages to support the global rollout.

Watch the New Swell launch video or learn more on the landing page: https://www.christiansurfers.net/new-swell or https://www.instagram.com/new.swell_cs/

VIC Guys camp

The VIC Guys camp was held from the 7-9th August at Johanna Campground on the Great Ocean Road. It was such a radical time for all the VIC boys to get around each other and get psyched for more camps. To continue building on already established relationships between different missions, but also meeting new crew who came was super sick!

We had some solid pumping surf throughout the weekend! We even had the grommys out there charging hard, which was so sick and super encouraging for the boys to see and get around the next gen of up and coming grommys, to help guide and lead them towards Christ and to charge harder!

We had Steve ‘Meersy’ come for our Sat night testimonial and he spoke on what it looks like to be a Man of God and it was so convicting and inspiring to hear especially in a world of a worldly view of what a man is “supposed to be”. We all got so much out of it. 

We’re all frothing to get amongst it again next year! Some prayer notes of the weekend and for VIC CS.

• Keep frothing to build up and encourage the groms to charge hard for the lord and the surf.

• Soften our hearts to what the lord wants for each individual mission and what it needs.

• More capacity to serve the community and the surfers. 

• Use the momentum coming from this weekend to fire up our missions and our leaders

Jay Panopoulos, Christian Surfers Australia, Phillip Island Mission Coordinator.

Central and Southern NSW Regional Camp Recap

On Friday 21st August, crew from across the CS Central and South Regions poured into Burrill Pines on the NSW South Coast for our 2026 Regional Camp. From beginning to end, it was an incredible weekend of waves, community, laughter, worship and seeing God at work.

We kicked off Friday night hearing stories from missions across both regions. It was wildly encouraging to hear the many ways local missions are reaching surfers for Jesus and building communities centred around him.

Dave shared from 2 Corinthians 4 about the treasure we carry in jars of clay. We were reminded that our fragility and brokenness don't disqualify us from life with God or from being used by him. In fact, God works through cracked and fragile vessels so that the true treasure - Jesus and his surpassing power - can be seen through our lives.

On Saturday morning, we woke to a surprise pulse of swell that wasn't exactly predicted, but had definitely been prayed for!

With the camp buzzing, everyone tucked into bacon and egg rolls cooked by the Narrabeen and Thirroul crew, with the team on the tongs running like a well-oiled machine.

Then it was down to the beach for the annual Regional Tag Team Challenge.

The bank was serving up fun 1–3 foot waves, a gentle offshore was grooming the faces, the sun was out, and the vibes were high.

Across seven heats, each with a different power move, we saw everything from full-rotation air reverses to head dips and handstands. We even threw in a last-minute Region vs Region heat, with some of the best surfers from Central and South going head-to-head.

Tag teams isn't just about surfing ability - strategy makes all the difference when the points are added up. And after an epic morning of competition, the 2026 Regional Tag Team champions were…

MANLY!

And, just quietly, Central Region took the honours over our Southern counterparts.

As the onshore arrived and the tide filled in, we headed back to camp for some downtime, hangs, and a buy, swap, and sell.

Saturday night began with Newcastle and Cronulla putting on a Mexican fiesta that had everything except a Mariachi marching band.

The night kicked on with Pete McCredie and Joey Skewes bringing the good vibes and plenty of laughs - including somehow getting birthday boy Lucas Wood on a table, on all fours, barking like a dog. Story for another time.

From there, the night moved into a really significant time of prayer, blessing and commissioning.

We had the privilege of recognising Steve Bailey as he recently stepped aside from his National Director role, with Richard Hadfield leading us in a powerful prayer of blessing over Steve and the national team for the season ahead.

We also got to celebrate some exciting new beginnings:

Fergo is stepping into the Regional Coordinator role for South Coast NSW! Ado Lawrence led us in prayer as we commissioned and blessed Fergo for this new season of leadership.

We also prayed for Will Somerville as he steps into his new role as National Communications Manager and heard about some of the exciting things coming up across CS nationally – CS Rivals is back baby!!!

Then, under a clear night sky, crew from Cronulla and Thirroul led us into an incredible time of worship. There was something special about standing together under the stars, singing praises to our great God and giving him glory simply for who he is.

Dave then shared from Exodus 14 about what we do when we feel stuck - those moments in life when we simply can't see a way forward. It was both encouraging and challenging, with an opportunity afterwards to respond. Many received prayer, while others spent time reflecting on what God was saying and doing in their hearts.

Just like the Israelites in Exodus 14, we encountered the power and presence of God by the sea.

From there, everyone headed back to their campsites, gathered around fires and shared conversations well into the night.

Sunday morning greeted us with another beautiful day at Burrill.

We gathered and heard testimonies from people about the different ways God had met them and impacted their lives throughout the weekend. Paul Campbell then led us in a powerful time of reflection, remembrance and celebration as we gathered around the Lord's Table and shared communion together.

And then came what felt like the perfect crescendo to the weekend. We headed down to the beach together to witness two young guys from Cronulla publicly declare their faith in Jesus through baptism. Surrounded by their friends and the wider CS community, they entered the water and were baptised in the ocean. What an incredible picture of what this is ultimately all about! People meeting Jesus. Lives being transformed. And surfers following Jesus together.

We are incredibly grateful for an epic weekend of fellowship, waves, competition, food, campfires, laughter, prayer, worship, and deeply impacting encounters with the Holy Spirit.

Thank you to everyone who cooked, cleaned, organised, led, surfed, prayed, worshipped, encouraged, served and went about the countless things that made the weekend possible!

Peace and waves,

Dave Standen
Central NSW Regional Coordinator