Pittwater LIfe December 2019 Issue

News
Mona selections a decade in
Siblings Luka and Eliza Monnock
certainly know the
meaning of perseverance in
surf sports: dedication and hard
work has finally paid off for the
Mona Vale SLSC duo, breaking
into the Sydney Northern Beaches
Branch team for the first time.
Along with Zach Wasley, the
trio becomes Mona Vale’s first
Branch representatives since
former beach sprinter and now
rugby league star Tommy Trbojevic
and Baylee Forbes made the
team exactly a decade ago.
“I was so shocked with selection.
Just crazy!” was how Eliza
reacted.
Considering what Eliza has
gone through, especially these
past two years, little wonder
Branch selection for the NSW
Interbranch Championships at Bulli on
December 7 and 8 is very special. “‘I have
missed the past two Aussies because
of injuries,” she revealed. “Last year I
fractured my back (L5). I was actually
training and running into the water for a
board start and something just cracked...
I didn’t find out until two months later. I
missed Branch, State and Aussies. It was
then all about physio and rehab.”
The previous year Eliza broke a finger
at training – the day before she was due
to fly to Aussies.
“I was on a wave on the board and
my hand got caught in the handle and I
snapped my finger!” she said.
Since she first started out in nippers,
Eliza admits there haven’t been
SIBLING REVELRY:
Luka Monnock with
sister Eliza.
many podium finishes over
those years. But her interest in
the sport never waned and she
pays tribute to her former coach
Marty Cowper.
“Marty was with us for so
long but he’s now moved up the
coast,” she said. “Bryce (Munro)
is now the head coach and dad
(Hugh) is our board coach. Training
is so much fun. We have such
a good support group and it is
really special how everyone is
together.
“I am just loving it. I am so
looking forward to this new adventure
and challenge. It is really
exciting.”
Eliza, now in her first year in
under-19s, has also taking a real
liking to the ski. “I don’t race
kayaks but I train on them. It is
something I picked up and it has helped
me heaps,” she said.
Younger brother Luka has been
knocking on the door of representative
selection for some time. But he actually
wasn’t going to put a nomination in for
the Branch team this year.
“I really love ski paddling and I wanted
to do the 20 Beaches ocean paddle,” he
18 DECEMBER 2019
The Local Voice Since 1991