Sarah Baum : photo courtesy Surfing South Africa
Reunion Island Challenge
Surfing South Africa
Bay of Plenty KZN
16 - 17 October 2009
Durban to host second Reunion Island Challenge at Bay of Plenty on Friday & Saturday
Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 15 October, 2009 : - - Surf City Durban will host the second Reunion Island Challenge on Friday and Saturday between an enlarged squad of surfers from Reunion Island, an Emerging South African Junior team as well as the current provincial champions KZN Central and their neighbours Southern KZN.
The competition at Bay of Plenty will bring this 2009 cultural and sporting exchange programme between Surfing South Africa and Reunion Island to a conclusion as the surfers from the Indian Ocean island return home on Sunday.
The KZN Central team is made up of surfers who secured the Durban based side the Freedom Cup in the recent SA Junior Surfing Championships at Nahoon Reef in East London while the Southern KZN team from south coast have also included surfers who were at the SA Championships.
Project manager and SSA Vice President Mark Hoffman has approved an Emerging SA Junior Team made of seven boys and three girls, nine of whom are from the KZN region and one from Border.
Included in the ESA Team are Siyabonga Khoza, Wazir Surajlal, Fika Ngubane and Trevor Cicelo who all turned out for Central KZN at the SA Championships, SSA Lotto scholarship winner Thalente Mkhize of Umzumbe, Cyril Gumede and Andile Mhlongo who are both part of a coaching project run by top SSA judge Sandile Mqadi, SA Development Academy member Jessica Wilson, Under 16 SA Champs bronze medalist Cara MacDonald of East London and up and coming local girl Kat Steffen.
The KZN Central team is a powerful one headed up by Matt Pallet, Devin Lane, Scott Le Fevre and Daniel de Sousa in the U18 Boys division while newly crowned SA Under 16 champion David Van Zyl is joined by Mikey Venter, Kane Bennewith and Wade Simkiss in a strong looking Under 16 group. Josh Smit, and Jason Harris are the pick of the KZN Central Under 14 Boys while Shane Sykes is one to watch in the Under 12 division.
2009 SA Junior team member Sarah Baum (who won the Reunion challenge in Cape Town last weekend), her 2009 teammate Kirsty Delport and new SA Team cap Heidi Palmboom along with Nikita Kekana are a formidable quartet. South African Under 14 champion Carryn MacNicol and KZN teammate Nicole Pallet as well as Teal Hogg in the Under 12 girls division should give this KZN team the edge in the Reunion Island Challenge.
Southern KZN will travel to Durban with a well balanced side that includes 2009 Under 12 Girls champion Chanelle Botha, ISA and Lotto scholarship winners Khayelihle Ngcobo and Brigt Ntuli, talented 11 year old Simo Mkhize, Brett Palmboom and Derek Horlock, David and Dylan Gouws, Cameron Pereira, Brendan Fijac and Rudi Oppel as well as Heather Klug, Laura Oppel, Shannon Mc Gee and Courtenay Ellish.
The Reunion Island team of Lucas and Martin Jannier, Jeremy and Jonathan Barre, Hugo Dubosc, Maurice Meyerwesphal, Yani Akbi and Camille Davila which competed in the Cape Town event will be boosted by the arrival of thirteen fellow Islanders who arrived in Durban on Monday.
Surfing South Africa (SSA) is the recognized governing body for the sport in South Africa. SSA is a member of the SA Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (SASCOC) and the International Surfing Association (ISA).The Reunion Island Challenge is part and parcel of the SA Junior Team’s preparations for the 2010 ISA World Junior Championships in New Zealand in January and is a talent identification initiative that is part of SSA’s strategic plans.
The event is supported by funding from the National Lottery Distribution Fund (NLDTF)..
www.surfingsouthafrica.co.za
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Robin de Kock
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