Australian surfing legend Brett Hardy and his partner Tania have banded together to help revive the Mandurah Bodyboarding Club, which played a large role in enriching Mandurah's surfy culture in the early 90's.
The club held onto it's success for more than 20 years before things started to slow down, with numbers beginning to dwindle in 2015.
But the grassroots surfers behind Mandurah Bodyboarding Club never lost hope, and they reached out to Brett and Tania in the hopes that their connections could be just what the club needed for its revival.
Tania said this project was something she had been extremely passionate about, and after two years of COVID restrictions getting in the way, Mandurah Bodyboarding Club was finally back.
"The club was started 20 years ago by group of locals down in Mandurah - a couple of the members over time have become professional bodyboarders. But numbers started to fall in and out.
"I was contacted by members who said the club had been around so long they had to either let it go or if possible, we could pick it up and take it over."
Tania's partner Brett, an accomplished surfer and bodyboarder, is the twin brother of world-renowned bodyboarder Ryan Hardy, who was keen to get involved and support the grassroots club.
"Ryan is one of our biggest sponsors, along with Mitch Rawlins - they are both successful professional bodyboarders and they have come on board to support us."
Mandurah Bodyboarding Club held its first competition since relaunching at the Wedge beachfront, Mandurah, in early 2022, and Tania said the turn out was "unlike anything she had every seen before".
"I received hundreds of Instagram messages, Facebook messages and phone calls - and our first competition saw people coming from Geraldton, Margaret River, Perth - people from the East Coast even contacted us.
"On the day a lot of the old club presidents and members showed up to have a look too."
The club's next event will be held on March 19, and Tania said her goal would be to get some local, small surf brands involved.
"We're really keen to get young people involved - we have Jake Metcalfe, who is a pretty well-known bodyboarder, helping us. He was a member as a kid and loved the club so much back then he joined us to help.
"I want to focus on local brands - there are a lot of young guys making t-shirts, hats, things like that. We have some big brands like Found Boards and Hardy Shapes, but we want the little underground ones as well."
To get involved in supporting or joining up with Mandurah Bodyboarding Club, contact Tania on 0419048496.
Samantha Ferguson
Samantha Ferguson is a journalist at the Mandurah Mail. She is an entertainment, sport, crime, community and education journalist with a special interest in investigative pieces and human interest stories.
Samantha Ferguson is a journalist at the Mandurah Mail. She is an entertainment, sport, crime, community and education journalist with a special interest in investigative pieces and human interest stories.
