STOKES' STELLAR SEASON LANDS HER A SPOT IN THE 2025 WORLD JUNIOR SURFING TITLES
Stokes' Stellar Season Lands Her a Spot in the 2025 World Junior Surfing Titles
Jahly Stokes has stormed onto the global surfing scene by securing a spot in the 2025 World Surf League (WSL) World Junior Titles, capping off an impressive year of results across Australia last year.
The 18-year-old from Kawana Beach, took out the Australian Pro Junior surfing series in October, after a standout season featuring three podium finishes across five events. Her victory comes after finishing third in the rankings the past two years (1 spot out from Worlds qualification), making this a hard-fought and well-deserved breakthrough.
“At the start of this year I set myself a goal to qualify for World Juniors and worked every day to achieve this goal, so I am really stoked to make that happen,” Jahly shared.
Surfing has been a lifelong journey for Jahly, growing up in a family steeped in water sports success—her mother is accomplished Iron-woman Denby Stokes and her brothers have had their own surfing triumphs. She took her first waves at just 5 years old, determined not to miss out on the fun with her older brothers, Taj and Zeb.
Jahly credits the family’s sporting success to the healthy lifestyle that comes with a Sunny Coast upbringing, “The ocean is so accessible for us here on the coast and we spent most of our weekends growing up down at the beach surfing.”
Thriving off momentum from the junior series, Jahly has concurrently competed across Asia in the WSL Australasian Qualifying Series (QS) events—a vital pathway for surfers aiming to qualify for the prestigious World Championship Tour (WCT). Currently sitting in 4th place on the QS rankings, Jahly’s achievements this year have solidified her position as a rising talent.
Balancing the demands of international events and travel isn’t always easy, but Jahly is grateful to have had her brothers—and fellow Sunny Coast competitors—by her side at these events. “The Sunny Coast has a good group of kids travelling together and supporting each other… which provides that little bit of extra help to push everyone as far as they can go,” she said.
The Sunshine Coast has long remained a hub for world-class surfing talent, producing a total of 5 female WCT surfers—a number scarcely reached by regions of comparable size. Inspired by this legacy and by surfers like Isabella Nichols (former World Junior Champion and current WCT competitor), Jahly is eager to follow in the footsteps of the local women before her, “The past few years I've been watching girls like Isabella come up through the ranks, which has definitely pushed and inspired me to hopefully qualify for the tour one day.”
Looking ahead, Jahly is preparing for the World Junior Titles, taking place in the Philippines from January 12, 2025. In the lead-up, she’s fully committed to her preparation over Christmas and New Year, “I will be surfing for as many hours as I can, training in the gym at the Ocean Performance Centre at least 3 times a week and driving down to the Surfing Australia facility (Cabarita) train once a week”.
With this level of determination and work ethic, Jahly’s future is incredibly bright. Her dedication has us eagerly anticipating the return of the world junior title trophy to the Sunshine Coast. Stay tuned into Jahly’s progress through social media @jahlystokes and @sunshinecoastsports
