Grommet (sportsperson)
A grommet (grom) is a young participant in extreme sports. Originally, a grommet was a surfer under the age of 16. In recent years, this has expanded to include other extreme sports, most notably skateboarding and snowboarding.[1]
Etymology
The first contextual use of the word appears in a 1964 article by the journalist, Nicholas Tomalin, who on a visit to Newquay in Cornwall noted that: "A surfer who is no good or just beginning is a 'gremmie'."[2]
The word "Gremmie", which was used in the United States in the 1940s and 1950s, was derived from the word "Gremlin".[3]
The term "grommet" was used in Lockie Leonard, Legend by Tim Winton: "Things are never as simple as they seem, not even for grommets".
The word was originally a derogatory term for an inexperienced surfer, but has become an accepted term for all young participants. For example, the British Surfing Association offers a Grommet Surf Club for young surfers.[4]
Notes
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Look up grommet in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. |
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Look up grom in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. |
Term first made popular on the South Coast of NSW in the 1970s