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S.A junior surfing champs

OMG! What an event!The biggest junior surfing event in the country. Very tricky surf ranging from 1ft to 6ft offshore and onshore trust East London to give the kids such challenging surf. The kids were amazing and were well up for the challenge and did exceptionally well in the difficult surf the standard of the surfing was at an all time high and my kids did me very proud in my absence. The next generation of surfers emerging from these great events are amazing finally South Africa in getting some depth in its junior surfing.

Once again my under 12 boys did an amazing job and made me so proud, all four of the finalist I coach on a regular basis. These guys are going to be competing with each other for many years to come and are going to be pushing the limits watch these guys closely in the future. In a very tightly contest heat, only 1 point separating top three positions it was young Matt McGillavray that took the honours. Congratulation's to the four boys for an outstanding performance, the results were as follows:

1st Matt McGillavray
2nd Jordan Maree
3rd Steff Burrows
4th Adin Masencamp

Adin Masencamp is only just turned 10 and is turning heads, the young kids is surfing superbly and is so focused and determined. He still has two more years in u/12 so i believe there are some titles coming his was soon.

As well as finishing 2nd Jordan Maree only 11yrs old, was nominated surfer of the contest, a great achievement at such a young age. Its great that his superb surfing is been recognised and appreciated

Equal 5th place went to little ripper Donavan Wichman who has improved leaps and bounds this year and is currently ripping hard and therefore worth of a mention, well done kido.

In the u/14
Diran Zakarian walked away with the finals with a massive 17.75 heat total clearly the winner of the division. hats how you win a contest surf so well that you can be denied a win, well done bru!

Young natural born ripper Benji Brand was living up to his reputation and surfing solid throughout the event, he was the man to beat. He finished 3rd overall although his surfing ability totally warrants a title.

In the u/16 division
David Van Zyle took the win over Mikey February congratulations boys.Reubin Lammers,the dark hoarse, finished 4th overall an awesome result for you my friend. Equal 5th went to Vincent Withers, he has come along way this year and backed up his improvement with some solid results this year. Well done boys you did Southern Cape proud. The ever consistent Daniel Wilson finished 5th with Vincent, the kid is an exceptional surfer, I am really looking forward to watching his progress in 2010

U/16 girls
As usual it was a Sarah Baum vs Bianca Buitendag clash. This time Bianca came out tops and took the win over Sarah, you two girls are exceptional surfers and both have a bright future in surfing keep it up girls and continue pushing each other and girls surfing in South Africa.
Amy Bosworth and Roxy Giles made it to the quarter finals well done more preparation equals stronger results. Never give up.

The main manne U/18 division
Matt Bromley was on form from heat one, in the final he left it to the last 6min to catch his two scoring rides and take out the win. A great example of total focus and a never give up attitude. The results have not gone his way this year as he has been focusing on Matric so to end off the year been S.A u/18 champ is a well deserved result, stoked for you brother.
Berrick De Vries was hot on his heals and finished 2nd overall, what a great year Berrick has had. He has really impressed me and has made it clear that he is going to be serious title contender in the years to come.

For full results visit www.surfingsouthafrica.co.za

Gromz Go Crazy 4

i

Victoria Bay Billabong Junior

The contest was scheduled to run at Vic bay which it did on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday unfortunately the surf dropped and the contest had to be finished off in Herolds bay. A few people made the most of the cooking waves at Vic such as Jordan Maree, Casey Grant, Bianca Buitendag and goofy foot power house Benji Brand

Wow I could not believe my eyes when i looked at the u/12 results I was so proud to see 6 of the 8 semi finalists, that i coach on a regular basis, in there giving it a go. In the final, 3 of the 4 kids were representing Waves S'Cool' of surfing. Big shout out must going to the following rippers for putting in so much effort this year and achieving great things with their surfing:

Matt McGillavray
Jordan Maree
Adin Masencamp
Jonah Paarman
Donavan Wichman
Steff Burrows

Matt, Steff and Jordan all made it to the finals and finished 4th, 3rd and 1st respectively. By winning the contest Jordan also went on to win the series, congratulations young man you deserve it. You have all made me very proud and well done on a sterling performance.
Each and every single one of them showing that South Africa's next generation will be a threat on the world surfing scene and that finely South Africa is gaining some depth in its surfing.

In the U/14 division it was clear that Benji Brand was the man to beat, Steff Burrows competing in an older age group managed a semi final and an =7th place. Benji Brand used his back hand to his advantage and tore the living day lights out of a fun Vic Bay and was comboing his fellow competitors on the way to the final. He backed up his solid performance on the rights and surfed excellently on the lefts at Herold bay and won the event hands down, congrats you little ripper.

Other stand outs in the U/14 were Dyllan Lightfoot and Brandon Benjamin well done kids i am very happy for you.

In the U/16 final it was young J-Bay Ripper Steven Sawyer that took out the win over Dale Staples, Benji Brand and Jared Veldhuis. In a very low scoring final it was Steven that came out tops, Benji Brand was also in the mix in a division that he will only be joining in 2yrs time. Local kid Forrest Hair did exceptionally well by making the semi finals and finishing 7th overall.

In the Woman pro Junior it was a Bianca Buitendag affair from the beginning posting some of the highest heats cores in the event. When the contest moved to Herolds it would be to her favoure now that she is calling Herold home! Well done also to Sarah Baum who is also surfing excellently, keep it up girls.

Last but not least it was the main manne, the U/20 pro junior. Berrick de Vries was on fire from the beginning of the contest and has been on fire pretty much the whole year. In his first year in the division he has won almost every event he has competed in, good work bro keep it up. Hats off must go to Eastern Caper Bertie Stuurman who blazed a trail all the way to the semi finals and finished 3rd overall.

Well done kids a great performance from all of you i wish i was there to witness it all go down how exciting it must have been. For all the final results please check out www.surfingsouthafrica.co.za

Waves school of surfing “news flash”

Well the fun just does not stop, 29th/30th I had a camp with 8 Kids in Still Bay the best thing was that we scored cooking 3f waves for two days totally uncrowded.
The 8 youngsters included,
Jordan Maree
Dave Burrows (out with an injury, stitches on his first day)
Steff Burrows
Ford Van Jaarsveld
Max Elkington
Jake Elkington
Matt McGillavray
Chaarl De Waal

We stayed in the beautiful thatch roof houses at Bosbokduin located in a nature reserve. The weather was fine with off shore wind morning to night. The general feel of the camp was very positive and the cherry on the cake were the waves, I believe every one of them learnt some valuable lessons.

GromZ go Crazy 3 is finally here if you’ve been ripping it up you’ll be on it. Shaun Joubert has a major section, once you seen it you’ll understand why. We also got some undergrounds and some super groms all ripping it up.

You can check it out on www.magicseaweed.com or www.zigzag.co.za . Zigzag have just launched their new and improved user friendly website. If you enjoyed the zag website before you’re going to love the new one,so hurry and go check it out.

You can also see the movie on all other major sites www.youtube.com, www.dailymotion.com, www.yahoo.com, www.metacafe.com, www.blip.tv . If you missed GromZ Go Crazy 2 check it out on www.wavesschoolofsurfing.blogspot.com

Davey Brand after winning the Quiksilver King of the Groms series has earned himself a spot in the King of the Groms Grand final in France from the 20th September to the 4th October. This is a momentous occasion for this young man and a great opportunity in his career to make a name for himself. After much consideration I decided that I will be accompanying Davey to the event.
If the contest finishes early I will be sure to get in touch and inform you of availability to coach and assist at Billabong Junior and S.A junior Championships.

The Freestyle Surfabout was held at Table View beach both days. The first saw nice clean 4ft conditions with a serious shore break on high tide with some of the competitors floating the section and landing on dry sand. The second day started with light NW wind that picked up through the day with the finals being held in strong side shore wind.

The U/14 final was made up by some talented groms with Steffen Burrows taking the win with Jordy Maree 2nd, Dylan Wichmann 3rd and Ben Alheit 4th.

The Ladies was contested by the usual suspects, but it was Freestyle team rider Stacey Guy (Melkbos) who came out tops with Penny Stemmet (Strand) close 2nd, Tanika Hoffman was 3rd and Chantelle Reutenbach (Melkbos) 4th.Tanika has been showing some real focus a dedication in our coaching sessions and its great to see her reap the rewards.

In the U/18 final it was almost an all West Coast/Melkbos affair except for Michael February (Kommetjie) who took the win from Justin Torode (Melkbos), 3rd was Leon Du Preez (Melkbos) with Jeandre Blignault (Melkbos) 4th.

The Open men was an exciting heat between old and young. Ian Armstrong showed the youngsters how it’s done and took 1st place and a R6000 cheque, second was Dave Richards (R2500), 3rd went to Wes Grey (R1000) with the U/18 Jordan Alexander (R500) in 4th.

The Freestyle Surfabout was a great success with more than 85 entries in total and good waves.

Terrible news about the shark attack in Glentana, our condolences to the Van Zyl family off Mossel Bay, Gerhad you will be missed in the lineup. This is now a good time to raise awareness of shark attacks and how to treat them if you ever found yourself in that situation.
Four things you must do for a bite to the leg:
1. Call 082911
2. Indirect pressure (if the leg is bitten put direct pressure on the femoral artery, use force)
3. Torne quay (use a leash and wrap it around as many times as you can)
4. Direct pressure (use sand free towels and shirts and apply pressure to the wound site)

Good luck to all the Metric’s for the exams study hard and ace them. All the best for the events to come.

Gromz Go Crazy 3

Davey Brand Pulls It Off

The surf forecast was spot on, big and onshore and without exaggerating it was 8ft plus and 40km an hour winds from the North East, it was going to be one of the toughest events these young men were going to take part in. Day two we woke up to an sweet offshore and cooking waves but like clockwork the onshore came busting through right on time and dashed anyone hopes of getting anymore barrels.

However that morning saw three epic barrels go down, Kacey Grant blowing up with two barrels on one wave scoring himself a 10 point ride. Right behind him on barrel skill was Slad Prestwhich finding a deep clean sick barrel, clearly these two guys from the same area surf some really good waves.

In these very testing conditions it the titles and contest wins would go to the person prepared to work the hardest, in these condition it was about getting the job done. Two waves, if you lucky, your first wave had to count with at least two turns on it and within the first 5 min. This would hopefully give you enough time to paddle back out and find another wave amongst all the chaos. That's only if you could get out at back line on your first jump in time for your heat.

In the premier Under 16 division, Brand went into the Southbroom leg of the Quiksilver King of the Groms as joint ratings leader with fellow Kommetjie local and close friend Michael February, and it literally came down to the wire with the first surfer being eliminated effectively losing the series title. And with a trip to France to contest the world finals of the Quiksilver King of the Groms up for grabs, as well as the overall honour of such a prestigious win, both surfers were focused and committed to the task at hand.

Once again Brand used his mechanical backhand attack to muster up the points, while Prestwich found a bank in the middle of the bay to snag two high scores, and with the heat slowly drawing to a close February found himself in third place and facing elimination. Realising that a loss would see his hopes of a repeat of his 2008 Quiksilver King of the Groms Series win, the defending champion stroked into a frothy wall just seconds before the siren signaling the end of the heat. February tried to pull into the barrel but the wave refused to co-operate, and even the close-out turn February executed wasn't enough to pull him through and save his title dreams. As February bowed out, Brand left the water with the 2009 Quiksilver King of the Groms series title and a ticket to France securely in his belt.

With the seeding the way they were it allowed for Kane Bennewith to claw his way through the opposite side of the draw to Brand to the final, hats must go off to this kids sterling performance.

With the minutes ticking past Bennewith took two smaller insiders and posted low scores to take the heat lead, while Brand sat and waited.Bennewith had just pulled out of a smaller inside wave and ended up getting caught by the rogue sets and dragged into the middle of the Southbroom Bay.
As Bennewith struggled against the surging current, Brand quickly made his way back to the lineup to await a second wave which he eventually picked off and again bashed relentlessly with his stylish backhand.

In the Under 20 division, 16 year old Beyrick de Vries from Umhlanga Rocks made it clear that his is a name to look out for in future years.

Sadly for Leppan faulty equipment was to see his title hopes dashed in a dramatic moment in the quarter-finals. With de Vries having advanced through the previous quarter-final heat, Leppan knew he had to get through his quarter-final against Casey Grant (Scottburgh), Matt Bromley (Kommetjie) and Davey van Zyl (Durban) to keep his title dreams alive. But tragedy struck about seven minutes into the heat when the Umhlanga surfer was steam-rolled by a three metre wall of water that snapped his leash and washed his surfboard to the shore. With another three huge waves behind it Leppan found himself floundering in the middle of the Southbroom bay at the mercy of the sea as the other three surfers in his heat continued to surf and build their heat scores.

In the final between Casey Grant and Berryick De Vries with the minutes ticking away de Vries turned and paddled into the smaller wave, and pulled two polished off-the-lips to post a 4.5 and push his lead further out of Grant's reach. With the ocean refusing to play ball, Grant took off on one last wave in an attempt to attain the points he needed to take the title, but the wave closed out on Grant along with his title hopes.

De Vries left the water victorious, collecting the R5,000 winner's cheque for today, a further R5,000 for his series win, and a return air ticket to surfing's most hallowed ground - Hawaii - for the 2009 winter season.

Awsome contest with an awsome result well done to everyone that competed and took on the very testing conditions

Camp Dates

Cape Town 27^th July- 2^nd August,

This is my bi-monthly trip to Cape Town; this year has picked up momentum with the Cape Town visits which has allowed me to work with the kids on a much more regular basis. This is great for them to have regular training and feedback on their improvement each time. There is a really young hot contingent coming out of Cape Town which is great to see.

I am now also introducing an added service to my Cape Town trips, all video footage will be captured and edited, with the footage I will produce a short DVD and coaching C.D which will be posted to each student.

Mossel Bay Camp 8^th-9th August:

This camp will be more “Boot Camp” style with all the bells and whistles, this is where I will give the kids a taste of what kind of commitment, dedication, and focus a professional surfer needs to put in to reap the rewards. Each student will leave the camp with a mini portfolio including photos and a short DVD which can be presented to your sponsor .This will also demonstrate how a person can present himself to a company when looking for sponsorship as well as getting used to being interviewed. We will be utilizing the wide variety of waves in the area including Diaz beach for training and heat drills and the Point for technical surfing. This camp will include accommodation, meals and coaching. The camp will be run in a very similar way as to the National team camp SSA held here, in preparation for the World Games in March.

Still Bay/Jongensfontein 29^th-30th August

This is my “family” camp, last year was such a great success I thought I would make it an annual event. This camp will have more of a family vibe to it where the parents, brothers and sisters are all welcome. The idea is spending quality time with each other whilst getting your kids profesional coaching in an area with great waves and breathe taking nature. We’ll surf till we drop and then at night retire to our homes or get together for a lekker braai. I want to incorporate fun into the camp and have the main focus on surfing and surfing good waves. Each family gets their own beautiful thatch house in the Bosbokduin Nature reserve, check out

http://www.roomsforafrica.com/establishment.do?id=2807 for more information on accommadation.

I am now also introducing an added service to my coaching, all video footage will be captured and edited, with the footage I will produce a short DVD and coaching C.D which will be posted to each

Student.

For a short video of the camp we had last year check out:

http://magicseaweed.com/Mossel-Bay-Surf-Report/713/

Victoria Bay 5^th-6^th September:

This camp will be more like a rough it “camp”, we will be bringing the tents and sleeping bags and camping at Vic Bay camp site. This training weekend will be in preparation for the Billabong Vic Bay junior event, this will be the “fun” camp where all the friends come along we surf all day, under super vision, enjoy ourselves and familiarize ourselves with the wave.

Jeffery's Bay Camp

I could not have asked for a more successful camp, everything ran perfectly and what made it so amazing was the epic surf we were fortunate enough to get during the waiting period. This meant we had the pleasure of watching this years Billabong WCT live.

The camp ran the duration of the Occy Grom junior contest the 9th to the 15th of July. We had an amazing group of kids consisting of all ages from all over the country they were, Logan Eales and Jordan Alexander from Cape Town, Steff Burrows and Adin Masencamp, Charl de Waal and Rigard Smit from Strand, Licoln Logie from East London and Dylan Lightfoot from J-Bay.

The camps main focus was preparation for the Occy grom:

Day 1:The waves were super fun 2-3 foot at the point with a light NW wind. We had heats in the morning and after lunch we had a free surf at Magna tubes beach break and then video analysis that evening

Day 2: The contest ran in very difficult small North westerly conditions at Bone Yards,

Day 3: Day 2 of the contest ran in perfect offshore 2-3 foot point. The level of surfing was incredible and all the kids in all the age groups especially the u/12 stepped it up in the near perfect conditions. Stand outs at the event were Donavan Wichman who won the U/12 division having spent some time coaching with me in Mossel Bay in preperation of the event, Jordan Maree was ripping on his back hand, surfing smoothly with his polished and mature style. He was definitely looking like the man to beat and finished 2nd overall. Ethen Flether fulfilled his potential and ripped it up posting some big scores along the way. The depth and level surfing of the under 12 division had everyone on the beach, including Occy, totally blown away.

The U14 division produced a new winner in Daniel Buitendag from Victoria Bay who clinched his first Billabong Junior Series event title.

Mikey Feb was owning the point throughout the event, the wave suiting his unique style right down to the ground, he took the win over Steven Sawyer a new comer to the u/16 division showing he has got what it takes to win.

Day 4: The ocean went flat. I arranged with my good friend and big wave surfer Duncan Scott to have a jet ski/tow in, orientation day. The kids were introduced to the Jet ski and all the safety features needed to run such a craft. All of them had equal opportunity to get towed behind the ski at Kabeljouws beach break and bust some airs.

Day 5/6/7: The swell kicks in and the Billabong WCT starts. These three days would be all about surfing, watching the WCT and video analysis. Watching the pro's then watching yourself after being videoed and analysed then trying to apply what you have learnt in the surf under supervision.

The camps went down great with the fact that we had great surf for the junior contest we had heaps of fun on the jet ski and were lucky enough to have the contest run during the 7 days we were there. We also got see and surf J-bay the worlds most perfect right hander as good as it gets.

I would like to thank Hurley for sponsoring some prizes, "Ripper" of the camp went to Rigard Smit and "most improved" went to little power house Steff Burrows. Big congratulations to all the kids for putting in so much effort the reward were clearly visible in there surfing.

Quiksilver KOG Mossel Bay

Mossel bay had cooking surf all week leading up to the contest with medium swell, great tides and favourable winds allowing for some super warm up sessions before the contest.

Saturday 13th saw the annual Quiksilver king of the groms kick off in Mossel bay in cooking 2-3ft surf. The tides were neaps and the wind light which would therefor have little effect on the wave. The waves by the afternoon were cooking breaking right from ze back back.

Saturday evening I had a premier of my new short movie called Gromz Go Crazy 01 at the Waves surf shop. It was a great success and all the kids loved it, there is some amazing surfing and waves on the video so be sure to look out for it. I hope to have sequels to the movie, so any hot groms who want to feature be sure to get in touch.

Sunday 14th contestant and organisers woke up to a disappointing sight of flat wave at the Point. It was a last minute decision and with absolutely no other option of a venue the contest had to be moved to Herolds bay.Having not made prior arrangement to host the event at Herolds bay did cause some hassles with the local law enforcement, nothing like a little morning drama to start the day.

With that sorted the contest ran in super fun 3ft waves with plenty of ripping going on. Davey Brand won the U/16 final by opening up with a 7.25 busting a huge signature first turn on his first wave, Mickey and Davey were in fact in the last KOG finals in Kommetjie were Mickey got the upper hand. However this time round it was Davey who took the honours after dominating every heat, he walked away with the win convicingly.

Other Stand Outs in the U/16 was Daniel Wilson from Kommetjie, this result surely proving what this young mans surfing ability is cabable of finishing equal 3rd. Dark Hoarse Vincent Withers showed some local local knowledge by taking down some big names on his way to a semi final birth and an equal 3rd, pocketing himself some cash and proving hard work does pay off.

The U/20 final was amazing to watch, Brendon Gibbens continued his good form by winning the event in a hard contested final. Chris Lappan looked good from the beginning of the contest and was the man to beat. Both started off with some good scores but it was Chris who took it too the next level by busting out an air 360, Brendon saw this and stepped up to the plate and also busted a bigger and better air 360.

After all was said and done the event ran very well and as usual all parents and kids were stoked after a great weekend in Mossel Bay town of the year.

Next up is the O'neil Cold Water Classic in Cape Town a 4 star WQS followed by the Rip Curl Grom search also held in Cape Town, so be sure to watch this space.

Mr Price WP Open

Well Well Well, it's been a really busy two weeks since the S.A champs. The weekend before saw the Mr Price WP Open where my boys were really kicking up a storm. In almost near perfect Trestles look alike conditions at Long Beach, Kommetjie.

Shaun Joubert was the man to beat making both the u/20 and open final his arch rival Chad du Toit also qualified for both finals showing the older crew that the young guns are coming through fast and furious.

Despite sterling performances from both these surfers it was tall kid Matt Bromley with his new strategy that took the u/20 final convincingly with two strong rides, Mickey Feb was looking hot in the final when he scored a 9 on his first wave but was very unfortunate not to get a back up wave therefor finishing 2nd overall. Shaun Jobubert and Chad du Toit finished 3rd and 4th respectively.

In the open men's division, Gavin Roberts continued his show of form after having just won the S.A senior champs by finishing 4th overall. Shaun Joubert was very stoked to make both finals although slightly disappointed not having won one of the divisions in the near perfect surf, he was ripping throughout the event and managed a consistent 3rd. Brendon Gibbens finished 2nd overall continuing his string of good results this year, Chad du Toit redeemed his fourth place finish in the Juniors by taking out the open men's.

Mossel Bay Ripper Johann Kriek dominated his heats up until the final were he was unable to get a solid back up score which left him with a equal 5th overall, a great result, well done.

MEN'S DIVISION
1. Chad du Toit : Durban : R6000 & 1000 PST points
2. Brendon Gibbens: Kommetjie : R2400 & 860 points
3. Shaun Joubert : Mossel Bay : R1500 & 730 points
4. Gavin Roberts : Scottburgh : R1300 & 670

U20 BOY'S DIVISION
1. Matt Bromley : Kommetjie : R2000 & 1000 points
2. Mikey February : Kommetjie : R900 & 860 points
3. Shaun Joubert : Mossel Bay : R600 & 730 points
4. Chad du Toit : Durban : R500 & 670 points

S.A Surfing Championships/National team trials

Last week saw the 44th inaugural S.A surfing champs held in St Mikes sponsored by South Coast Tourism. It was a highly contested event as usual with plenty of highs and lows, the surf was very demanding with consistent 4-6 foot waves. We were very fortunate to score cooking 4ft Southbroom before the event started this proving to be a positive start of some great surf for the week ahead.

Day 1 saw cooking 4-6 foot offshore waves peeling down the point and a new format, 1st place through to round 4 2nd and 3rd to round 3 and 4th into repo charge round 2.

Friday was a whole other ball game with solid 8 foot sets and a howling NE wind making for extreme conditions, after heats there were some great car park stories of how guys were getting dealt in the solid surf. Saturday and Sunday proved to be awesome conditions not dropping below the 5ft mark, great waves ment there was some world class surfing.

Stand outs in the men's division were DEVYN MATTHEYS, DAN REDMAN, MAMFRED ADRIO, and the man to beat RYAN PAYNE eventual surfer of the contest.

Gavin Roberts beat 2007 SA Champion Devyn Mattheys of Border into second place with Dan Redman of KZN grabbing third ahead of 2009 Surfer of the Contest Ryan Payne of EP.

Nobody could out class HEATHER CLARK in the open woman's division showing that the St Mikes local can still mix it up with the best surfers in the country. From the outset it was obvious that Heather was in it to win it.

Clark successfully defended the title she won at Victoria Bay last year after fighting her way through the repocharge round early in this year’s event. Nikita Robb of Border was second, Tammy Lee Smith of KZN came third and Faye Zoetmulder of EP was fourth.

Kyle Lane was definitely the man to beat in the u/20 boys division with some hard hitting back hand turns. Shaun Denis was also looking good throughout the event, Jaco Stey was a definite threat with a new found confidence showing in his attitude and surfing. Bertie Stuurman was on fine form and looking to take the title.

Shawn Dennis found form in the Under 20 Boys Final to beat fellow KZN surfer Kyle Lane into second place while 2009 Junior Surfer of the Year and Lotto Scholarship recipient Bertie Stuurman of EP came third. Underling KZN’s dominance in this division was Chris Leppan who was fourth.

In the Girls u/20 Sarah Baum was definitely onfire and looking very good on her backhand in the solid surf, she would have been the obvious bet although it was tough cookie Taryn Chudleigh that piped her at the end for the S.A champ title.Chudleigh’s board hit her in the face during her semi final and she had to be taken to hospital but she was back in time for her final and did Western Province proud.

Final team placings after all was said and done:
TEAMS
1. KWAZULU NATAL 47344
2. SOUTHERN KWAZULU NATAL 38690
3. BORDER 38294

4. EASTERN PROVINCE 36922
5. WESTERN PROVINCE 36512
6. BOLAND 33750

During the S.A champs 9 surfers were selected to take part in in National team trials, surfing for one position. Three positions had been already given to top WQS campaigners, Brandon Jackson, Rudi Palmboom junior and Damien Farenfort. In the end it was clear tha Ryan Payne and Llewellyn Whittaker wanted to be in the team more than anyone.

In a round robin type trial over four heats Ryan and Lu had three 1st places but it was Ryan's 2nd place in his 4th heat that beat Lu's 3rd place. So after loads of heats it was Ryan Payne that would be part of the National team going to Costa Rica end of July, Llewellyn will be first reserve.

S.J WINS OAKLEY PRO JNR

Shaun Joubert makes his come back almost half way through the year and wins the Oakley pro junior in Port Alfred over the weekend. The kid was on fine form throughout the entire contest and was so stoked when the end of the heat came and he had won. Shaun has been very patient over the last few months, looking for a solid result. After the experience and the highest place finish at the world Games in Equador, equal 8th, it was just a matter of time till he won an event.

Brendon Gibbons finished a convincing second, Bendon was the man to beat at the event but fell short in the hard contested final. Its great to see the young man applying himself and his talent finally getting the results he deserves.

In almost perfect surf Shaun dominated the event and took down the best surfers in the country as well as some international talent. Friday saw Matt Bromley steal the lime light by surfing exceptionally well and turning heads scoring strong 7 point rides.

Other stand outs were mr consistent the angle grinder Davey Brand who made quarter finals and finished equal 5th with his good friend Jacob Mellish.

Davey, hot off a 3rd place finish at the World Games in Ecuador took down some big names utilising his strong back hand. Jacob Mellish after a slow start this year has come out the gates, firing on all four cylinders and surfed hard and fast throwing down some big turns to make it through some stiff heats and into the quarter finals.

Tanika Hoffman did exceptionally well making the most of the long right handers, the strong back hand Tanika turn assisting her to the semi final, finishing 3rd overall.

Mossel Bay Junior Camp

Hello Boys and Girls,

Last weekend on the 25th and 26th of April i had a mini grom surf camp the surf pumped. I had 5 parents enquire about training on this specific long weekend which made me think i should have a camp. It was small camp with only 5 people attending and a very young group with the youngest been 7 and the oldest 13.

The kids that attended the camp were as follows, Goofy foot ripper from Kalk Bay, Jordan Maree age 10, Strand wave slayer, Adin Mazemcamp age 9 and the eldest of them all Nahoon's style master, Licoln Logie age 13.

The other two that made up the five were the Elkington Brothers, Max age 7 and Jake age 9, both charging and showing ability way beyond their age in the great surf. As you might have noticed i mentioned that the waves were cooking.

Saturday inner pool was all time with a solid little ground swell and a pushing tide most the day, the boys really excelled in the rippable waves even on the high tide when things got a bit tricky and started breaking close to the rocks.

Sunday was disappointing at the Point, we woke up to small 2 foot waves with a devil wind, I made the call and went to one of our semi secret spots where we scored epic 3 foot grinding left handers. The kids absolutely loved the waves and the challenge, it was great to see them out there charging, enjoying themselves.

After scoring such great waves it was evident that this camp's focus was about learning to catch and ride good waves properly and at the same time working on their technique. All sessions were videoed and video analysis done in our Waves school of surfing class room.

Each and everyone of the kids i am sure learnt a valuable lesson whether it be about surfing or just about themselves. All in all a very successful camp.

Big shout out to the local boys for giving me space and freedom to use the Point as a training ground.

S.A long board champs

I though i would share the fantastic news if you have not hear already. The Southern Cape long boarding team did exceptionally well last week in Jeffery's Bay. The contest had great surf everyday against weather and swell forecast which made for great surfing and even better surfing.

Below are the SC Team members who got to finals:

Daniel Buitendag- 2nd boys division- Having surfed a long board for 1st time.

Bianca Buitendag- 1st girls division- on Daniels board also the first time
Tess Saunders-4th girls division.

Bianca Buitendag- 3rd Ladies division- also on board borrowed from Des Sawyer.
Roxy Towill-4th Ladies Division

Glen Thompson-3rd Grand Master

Steven Hair-2nd Veterans

Mike Hornsey- 3rd Super legends

Terry Deans-4th Super Legends

Matthew Moir open division- won surfer of the contest, despite not making finals.

A commendable 3rd place to Southern Cape, the team with the best attitude and team spirit. Congratulations

Please if anyone has any news to share regarding surfing in the greater Southern Cape area please contact me if you would like to share.

Boland Trials

Daar is geen Land soos die Bo-Land,

Boland were kind enough to open up their doors to the Southern Cape community and allowed us to surf their trials. Johan Kriek has been ripping and seems very determined, he has two trials and is confident he will be first seed for the Boland team. Last weekend saw the final of three trials held at Jongensfontein. The conditions were epic 3-4foot right handers peeling all day, neap tides and off shore wind made for rippable waves all day.

There was some really hot junior surfing with guys like Phillip Visagie, Andrew Smith and Tommie Kruger really impressing me in the small to medium perfect waves. U/16 surfer Rigartd Smit was also on fine form doing some big turns and impressing the judges. The final results are as follows.

U/20
1)Tommie Kruger
2)Andrew Smith
3)Philip Visage
4)JP Olivier
5)Rigardt Smit
5)Philip Venter
6)Klaus Schroder
7)Bjorn Larsen

The Open was hard fought with all the guys ripping, the final was an all Southern Cape affair making the most of their right hand point surfing and putting that experience into practice. The waves were super fun and there were only four people in the water at a time, it did not feel like you were in a heat trying to win a contest. The end result was as follows:

Open
1) Johan Kriek
2)Llewellyn Whittaker
3)Shaun Botha
4)Mark Zunkel
5)Andries Dunn
6)Jeffrey Greaves
7)Raymond Trevor

All in all it was a great day. The full team will be announced shortly, so be sure to watch this space.

S.A grommet Games

This event was held in P.E where three of my student shone. Little charger Max Elkington got 1st in the U/8 division and his older brother Jake finished 2nd in the U/10 division.

Big shout out must go to little ripper Adin Mazemcamp who won the U/10 division convincingly, he was also nominated surfer of the event after a sterling performance through the contest consistently scoring 8,9 and 10 point rides in his heats.

Well done Adin your a little ripper keep it up looking forward to seeing more performances such as these in the future.

Billabong Pro Junior

After arriving home after a gruelling 2 day trip from Ecuador the team left Cape Town international to fly to Durban the very next day. A very hectic schedule for such young, up and coming stars.

The disappointing news was that non of their boards arrived as they were left in Amsterdam, this would prove to be a problem for those competing in the event the following day, although this is not never heard of and comes with the territory of being a professional surfer.

The conditions were very testing but contestable averaging 3 foot clean waves in the morning deteriorating throughout the day due to the onshore making for very shifty waves.

Competing in excellent offshore waves that grew from one metre to a board-breaking two metres during the day, Bianca Buitendag, 15, from Victoria Bay, beat SA junior teammate Kirsty Delport (Durban) by 12.75 points to 8.25 in a one-sided final with Delport. Well done Bianca you deserve it, I am very proud of you.

Other stars at the event in the U/20 division were Brendon Gibbens who finished 2nd and defiantly deserves a good result as he is a very hot talented surfer, my main man Matt Bromley finished 3rd and Jaco Steyn finished equal 5th showing that hard work and determination will get you results. Congrats Casey on the win, you have been impressing for some time and its finally payed off, keep it up.

U16 saw Mr consistent Davey Brand finish 3rd overall and dark hoarse Danile Wilson shinning by putting effort into his approach, finishing 5th overall. Congratulations to Davey Van Zyl for his win and Mikey Feb for 2nd.

Welcome back to Benji Barnd after an extended stay in Hawaii, clearly doing him the world of good. He put all his North shore winter knowledge to practise and walked away with a convincing win in the U/14 division

In the U/12 Shane Sykes took the win over goofy foot style master Jordan Maree, Well done to Jordy for and excellent result who also competed in the U/14 division where he finished 7th overall, Jordy Maree has only just turned ten and he showing talent beyond his years, congratulations young man.

Wish i could have been there to watch all these kids ripping it would have been very entertaining.

ISA world surfing games

Hi Guys and Gels,

I am sure you have all heard the final results and the achievements of the Junior team in Ecuador, I know the news is a bit late but this is what the news is from inside the camp.

We arrived early and quickly acclimatised to the weather, accommodation, waves and food. Having arrived early would help put us in a positive frame of mind knowing we had more time practising at the contest arena, it also allowed us to have our competition with New Zealand.

Every year S.A surf against NZ in a warm up event before the world games. This year for the first time in four years we beat them, we not only beat them we absolutely annihilated them. Shaun Joubert the only U/18 to make the final won the division, we got 1st and 2nd in the U/16 and 1st, 2nd, 3rd in the girls U/18 division. Team S.A went on to get a 1st and 2nd in the tag team which led to a convincing win over the All Blacks, they literally went home with their tail between their legs and we went home with spirits high.

It was a grueling 8 day event and every single team member would contribute in some shape or form to the end result. The waves at Le Farre were very consistent we only had one day where we battled for surf due to the high tide, during this time we took part in the tag team event where we placed 2nd in the semi final to secure us a spot in the tag team final to be held on the last day. Without Matt Bromley in the tag team we would never have made the final, in the semi final we tactically sent him to the point as our power surfer and he continued to blow up scoring a 9 and two 8 point rides.

It all went down to the wire, team S.A on the second last day was lying third and in contention for the title with five surfers still remaining in the event. Unfortunately it was not to be our day and we lost four kids going into the last day.

We finished 6th overall one better than last year although accumulating a lot more points as a team, we were proud to have a finalist in Davey Brand who finished a well deserved 3rd overall. We also received a silver medal in the tag team finals, a true testament of our sheer determination as a nation to never give up.

Stand outs for me were Shaun Jobert who placed highest out of the South Africans in the U/18 division who placed 8th overall, Bianca Buitendag finished a convincing 11th overall and was not finished kicking butt and only got knocked out due to some hard core hassling from the two Americans. Davey Brand did us really proud by finishing 3rd overall and was on fire the entire event, consistency proving to be the way to win and ISA world junior title.
Well done team we are all very proud of your effort.