Papamoa beach will host 12 different clubs from across the country as hundreds of junior surf lifesavers take to the sand and surf for the Pak'n Save Papamoa Junior Carnival on Saturday.

Bay of Plenty clubs, including, Papamoa, Mount, Omanu and Whakatane are among the 12 clubs competing in the annual fundraiser for Papamoa Surf Lifesaving Club's junior athletes.

Action from a Papamoa Invitational Junior Carnival. Photo: Jamie Troughton, Dscribe Media Services.

Club committee member Tracey Mano says the Bay clubs are expected to prove strong, as usual.

'Omanu and Mount are probably the strongest in their junior sports,” says Tracey, 'but we [Papamoa] have got some good athletes. We hope to get lots of entries.”

Tracey says the competition is the only one that's run that is purely club organised.

'We use all our own officials and it's really community focussed where all the parents pitch in too,” she adds. 'We're proud of this carnival – it's run really well.”

She says the carnival is also a good lead in to the 2015 Eastern Region Junior Championships on January 24-25.

Junior surf lifesavers, aged 7-14, will compete in both sand and surf events, including the usual beach sprints, flags, swim and board relays. 'It's quite a full programme,” says Tracey.

The Pak'n Save Papamoa Junior Carnival is at Papamoa Beach Surf Club, on January 17, from 9am to 2pm.