The Quiksilver ISA World Junior Surfing Championship is now taking place in Ecuador, South America.

Four surfers from Tofino, British Columbia – Kye and Janek Peladeau, Frazer Mayor and Simon Bauer – are representing Canada at the event, which has to attracted up to 264 surfers from 28 different countries.

You can watch a live webcast of competition by clicking here.

The World Junior Surfing Championship is scheduled to continue until April 5 at Playa de las FAE in Salinas, Ecuador. The event will crown the world champions in Boys Under 18, Boys Under 16 and Girls Under 18.

A World Junior Champion Nation will also be crowned at the event. In order to qualify in this category, a national team will need to be represented by four members in each of the three individual categories. Therefore, a complete team will be composed of 12 athletes.

The International Surfing Association (ISA) is the World Governing Authority of Surfing and all its disciplines. The organization is recognized by the International Olympic Committee.

This is the seventh edition of the Quiksilver ISA World Junior Surfing Championship. The event started shortly after ISA decided to separate the Junior category from the World Surfing Games.

The first competition took place in South Africa in 2003, followed by Tahiti (2004), California (2005), Brazil (2006), Portugal (2007) and France (2008).

Australia, the greatest surfing force at the world level, will be defending its gold medal in the team category.

Playa de las FAE (initials stand for Ecuadorian Air Force) is the most renown surf spot in Salinas, a beach resort located 136 km from Guayaquil, the second largest city in Ecuador.

The spot features a long and consistent left-leaning point break that maintains good shape in swells of up to eight feet. The beach acquired fame after the World Surfing Games were held there in 2004.

Past WJSC Team Gold Medal Champions:

2003 – Brazil
2004 – Australia
2005 – Hawaii
2006 – Australia
2007 – Australia
2008 – Australia