Junior Srpingbok coach

Some great news, I have just been informed by Surfing South Africa that I will be joining the the South African junior surfing team to the world games as assistant coach being held in Ecuador.

The Under 18 Boys team is made up of Nick Godfrey of Eastern Province, Shaun Joubert of Southern Cape, Matthew Bromley of Western Province and Dale Staples of Southern Cape. Brendan Gibbens of Western Province is the non traveling reserve.
Joubert and Bromley will both represent South Africa for the fourth time while Godfrey earns a third cap and Staples his second.

Bianca Buitendag of Southern Cape, Sarah Baum of KZN and Tanika Hofmann of Western Province earn their second caps while Kirsty Delport of KZN is the new cap in the Under 18 Girls group. Heidi Palmboom of KZN is the non traveling reserve.

The four surfers who will represent South Africa in the Under 16 Boys division are Michael February and David Brand of Western Province, Dane Staples of Southern Cape and Slade Prestwich of KZN. Steven Sawyer of Eastern Province is the non traveling reserve.

The team will be accompanied by SSA Deputy President Pax Nydoo in his capacity as Team Manager, and the coaching staff will be made up of legendary coach Graham Hynes who is Head Coach, Etienne Venter, the Deputy Coach and Llewellyn Whittaker, the Assistant Coach.

I have the had the privilege to be working closely with 6 of the 15 selected team members which is really exciting and am really looking forward to working with the rest of the team in the coming months in preparation for next year.

THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS LUCK, LUCK IS WHERE PREPARATION MEETS OPPORTUNITY

Summer is here

Hi Everyone, just a heads up on whats going down on the surfing scene in Mossel Bay. As usual with summer comes small waves which can be a good thing around here as it opens up many other spots in the area.

We have been getting on and off great waves as well as having set up full time on the beach with the learn to surf school. We have a great spot on the grass at Diaz beach with the perfect view of overlooking the beach. The surf school will also be there as extra eyes to make it a safer place to swim and enjoy yourself. So please be sure to come and join us, our lessons are running from 9am-11am and 12pm-2pm, boards will also be available to hire.

The newest edition to the surf school is out stand up paddle board which will also be available for hire and anyone who wants to give it a go.

I also have whizz kid Jayce Robinson from the U.K with me this summer. I had the privilege to work with him as part of the British Junior squad and now he is out here using Mossel Bay as his training ground. Along with Reubin Ash the two of them are by far the hottest junior talent coming out of the U.K at the moment.

The biggest news though is my association with the Internet surf forecast giant www.magicseaweed.com, check out the link
http://magicseaweed.com/waves-school-of-surfing-Listing/2474/. I have got a listing with them which has a link to an info page so if anyone has any input please let me know. I will also be posting photos regularly so keep an eye out for that.

Thanks for listening and thank you for all your support this year, may it be a great Christmas and Holiday season for you all.

The shipment has arrived

With summer holidays just around the corner a lot of preparation is going into the learn to surf school which i will be running at Diaz Beach in Mossel Bay. Waves School of Surfing and Wave Surf Shop has purchased 12 boards from Dean Geraghty, which will be made available for beginner lessons, rentals, my after school club and a few will also be up for sale.

The Soft boards are perfect for learning to surf, buoyant, thick and still very light making them controllable and very safe to use in the water. What is great about the boards is the fact that there is far less chance of getting injured whilst using them, ideal for the whole family.

If you looking for us this summer we will be down on Diaz beach everyday from December 10 to January 10. If your up for a for a fun day on the beach be sure to come and join us, see staff at Waves surf shop or call to make a booking.

Last week I ventured out of the comfort zone of Mossel Bay and headed to Cape Town for an intensive, week long training camp. There was a really good turn out from the Kommetjie crew including the Brand Brothers, Matt Bromo, Brendon Gibbens and the only girl Tanika Hoffman. We got really lucky with the surf and enjoyed two days of 4ft, strong off shore surf. All these kids training and preparing for Springbok trials

The new star to join the Kommetjie group was young up and coming ripper Jordan Maree who is residing in Kalk Bay. The Kid is only 10 years old and already surfing like a champ, showing mountains of talent.

I also had the privilege to work with the Strand duo of Adin Mazencamp, 9 years old and Steff Burrows, 11 years old. Both these two youngsters also showing so much potential and a massive improvement since working with them in August. This is what is so rewarding in my line of work.

Jaco Steyn and Bjorn Larsen were my only two West coast, Melkbos crew. Unfortunately Bjorn had injured his knee so could not attend the lessons although he did come down to show some support to friend and fellow competitor Jaco.

This meant Jaco and I were flexible as to where we could have the lesson. Jaco and I made a last minute decision to go to Elands bay and as luck would have it, we arrived Wednesday morning pleasantly surprised when greeted by fun 2-4 ft, no wind,perfect waves peeling down the point. We surfed Lambert's Bay for lunch and Elands Bay again for dinner then took the long drive home only getting back to the city at 8pm that night.

I got back to Mossel Bay Late on Sunday night and was so happy to see my two girls, Lynette and Kristin. Monday morning I woke up to perfect 3-4ft Outer pool, with not a breath of wind. The tide was pushing and by lunch time were surfing inner pool, still cooking breaking all the way from Fishermans rock with only 4 guys out. So happy to be back home. Go the Bokke!

Tow in Maddness

Howzit guys, almost a month since the last update. Sorry to keep you all waiting for the latest news and photos. Weekend before last the Yamaha gang with Jason Ribbink came down to Mossel Bay to do a demo day for the local surfers and dealership. Shaun Joubert and Michael Shepperd joined us on the beach for what was going to be a good laugh.

It was an awesome sunny day, only two foot at Diaz Beach but for anyone who has been towed behind a ski will know how much fun it is.

The highlight of the session was when Jason and I went out around behind the Point and towed in at a reef that has never been towed before. It was not very big, i would guesstimate in the 3-6 foot range, open ocean swell. Jason was very impressed with the set up so hopefully by next winter we will be all over this reef/slab getting the waves our lives. Will keep you posted on the developments there.

Training camp a success

Hi everyone, i am so proud to inform you that the first of many training camps was an absolute success. During the S.A champs i rounded up 10 of the best surfers in the country including Shaun Joubert, u/18 S.A champ Matt Bromley, U/16 S.A champ Davey Brand his brother Benji brand, u/16 girls S.A champ Bianca Buitendag just to name a few. Jacob Mellish and Tanika Hoffman also attended from Cape Town , Arthur and Vincent Withers as well as Daniel Buitendag also attended the camp.

On the first day we woke up to a beautiful sunrise but very disappointing surf, howling onshore and lumpy. We started the day with a nice run along the the beautiful Bosbokduin beach, we did a dynamic warm up session and played some touch rugby. On the run back we found a lekker big dune which we ran a few times to finish off the morning training session we did about 30 min stretching.

Everyone retired to their castles for breakfast, i had arranged 4 thatch roofed houses in the Bosbokduin nature reserve right on Dolphin point, the perfect setting for such a camp. After breakfast we headed to Still bay main beach where we played some more touch as if we were preparing for the Currie Cup final we topped the session off by playing the life saving game, flags. The idea was to add an element of fun into the rigorous fitness regime.

As the surf was not playing along it was impossible to do heat drills, at this point the kids just wanted to surf. The kids surfed and where filmed after which we went home for late lunch and video analysis. We finished the day just in time to go to the local pub to watch the Currie Cup finals on the big screen. That evening we got together and had a lovely braai fortunately we had an indoor braai as the wind was still very strong.

Day two the onshore was still blowing so we started the day with a very similar warm up and fitness session. After breakfast the sun came out and the wind dropped off to turn out into a perfect day. We were also pleasantly surprised to find a super fun right hander right on our door step, this would be the venue for the mini contest.

The contest went down really well and the on form Shaun Joubert took the win over a hard working absolutley ripping Matt Bromley, Davey Brand finished 3rd and Jacob Mellish 4th. Families hung out on the beach while the kids competed, all in all i believe everyone had a great time. It was a great way for the families to have a weekend away and the kids to learn, it was an awsome weekend which everyone enjoyed. I am really looking forward to holding more of these camps in the future.

O.M.G

The Oakley Global Challenge serves up perfect barrels and perfect all round waves at
the high performance wave of Keramas Bali, Indonesia. From the get go Shaun was clearly out on a mission to win the event with massive heat score all through the event.
The 19-year-old was all class in the barrelling right-handers, weaving through the eye of two reeling tubes to snare a pair of near-perfect 9’s (9.5 & 9.43). After the heat, Joubert said he was pleased to be in Bali.

The duo of Nick Godfrey and Shaun Joubert were flying the flag high with both of them having sterling performances. Both making a name for themselves and South Africa by showing the rest of the world the level of talent we have here on our home soil.

Nick Godo was on fine form and made it all the way to the quarter finals finishing 5th overall. Quintin Jones was also there as Nick's mentor and coach and was able to bare witness to the amazing world class surfing that went down at Karama's.

Shaun Jobert went on another round to the semi finals where he met his match in the talented Marc Lacomare from France and unfortunately bowed out and finished 3rd overall.

The boys are still in Indonesia enjoying a solid ground swell, the event finished a few days earlier which has allowed them to sit back and enjoy some good surf with friends after a there hard work and big effort. Look forward to hearing all about it when you get home Kido.

Other news hot off the press is that Mossel bay charger and all round ripper and nice guy Indy Rookin-Smith has been selected to surf the Springbok trials after an excellent performance at the S.A surfing Championships. The trials will be held in Port Alfred on Saturday 29th of November. Well done and good luck

Reef Wetsuits S.A junior Champs

WOW! What an event. Last week i drove up to Durban 16 hours to go coach the Southern Cape Junior team. The team overall did really well and placed 5th out of 8 which means there is room for improvement. All the kids really did well and for those who did not make the semi or finals they gave it their all and went down fighting.

Stand outs in the Southern Cape Team were Indi Rookin-Smith & Adel Nortjie both from Mossel Bay and both placed equal 5th in the U/18 division. Bianca Buitendag from Victoria Bay won the U/16 division, she not only won but smoked her fellow competitors scoring 17.65 out of a possible 20 the closest was second place Heidi Palmboom with a heat total of 9.00.

Roxy Giles competed in her first ever S.A champs and with pure grit and determination qualified for the finals where she finished 3rd overall.

Other stand outs in the Southern Cape Team were Daniel Buitendag 5th in the U/14, Dylan Reddering from Plet who surfed the bigger conditions with courage and Vincent Withers.

The surf was fantastic the whole event except the first day which was onshore, for the the rest of the event the surf was cooking. It was almost called the Reef Wetsuits big waves S.A junior champs.

Other students that i am currently working with that were also very impressive at the event was of coarse overall S.A u/18 208 junior Champion Matt Bromley. Matt was surfing smooth and polished the entire event to take the win over my main man Brendon Gibbens. Brendon was looking to take the title with some really hard committed surfing, he was a standout at the event and has finally broken his 5th place rut that he has been stuck in. The hard work these kids are putting in finally paying off.

In the U/16 Davey Brand walked away with the win over fellow competitor Jacob Mellish who finished 3rd. Davey was looking hot from the first day and was the man to beat surfing to the criteria, hard fast and tight in the pocket. Jacob has been putting allot of effort into his surfing and his results are proof, he has come along way in the last couple months and can be very proud of his improvement.

Little power house Benji Brand walked away with a win in the u/12 division putting the rest of his competitors to shame by scoring 17.00 out of 20 his nearest threat was the ripper from Cape Town Max Armstrong who placed second with a heat total of 8.75.

Well done to all the competitors i am very impressed with the standard of surfing and am looking forward to seeing these kids grow into mature rippers one day.

After school club

Last week Thursday 25th September we had an amzing day for the after school club, the sun was shinning not much wind and the tide neaps just perfect not to high and not to low. The white waters the kids were catching reformed into small little waves breaking left and right.

Simone, Nickolas and Chad all had some great waves every one was so stoked. It was an ideal situation, my assistant coach Andries was pushing the kids into the waves while i stood waist deep and got some great pictures with my new water proof digital camera.

The after school club runs every Thursday afternoon from 4pm to 5pm at Diaz beach depending on the surf conditions. With summer just around the corner we can look forward some epic conditions and just lots and lots of fun.

S.J in Indo

After winning the Oakley pro junior in Durban at the beginning of the year Shaun Joubert was given a wild card in the international Oakley pro Junior in Indo. Here are a couple of shot showing Shaun Blowing up and warming up for the event. Shaun has been on fine form of late after winning the Mr price pro Junior in Durban and finishing 3rd at the Billabong in J-bay a couple weeks ago that result qualifying him for the World Junior championships which will be held at Narabeen Australia.

Between school work, contest and the odd sick J-bay swell Shaun has been putting in alot of time in the water and on the beach. He has been training really hard and has been very focus for the event in Indo, with all the effort he has been putting in i am sure a substantial result or even a win will be very achievable. Good luck over there Shauno, fly that flag bru we will be shouting out for you this side in the Baai.