Junior Saffas Take Reunion Island Challenge
Last weekend saw our local junior 2010 team fare extremely well in the team contest in the Reunion Island Challenge that took place at Kalk Bay Reef in Cape Town on Sunday.
Western Province, the hosts, took second place and the visitors from Reunion Island came third. The Emergin South African team came fourth and Boland came in at fifth place.
The U18 Boys Final title was snatched up by South African junior team member David Brand, who managed to beat current SA champion Matt Bromley of Western Province, pushing him down to second place. Hugo Dubosc of Reunion Island came third and Mikey February, another member of the South African team, came fourth.
This victory has managed to distinguish Brand as the top seed in the U18 SA Team when they compete in the ISA World Junior championships in New Zealand in January 2010.
The U18 Girls’ Final title went to Sarah Baum of the SA Team. She beat Camilla Davila of Reunion Island, who came second. Heidi Palmboom of the SA Junior Team came third and current U18 Girls’ champion Alice McGregor of the Emerging SA Team ended up in fourth place.
The U16 Boys’ finals saw the title going to Daniel Wilson of the Western Province. South African team members Steven Sawyer and Jarred Veldhuis came second and third. Fourth place went to another WP surfer, Benji Brand.
The U14 Boys’ Final victory also went to a WP surfer: Max Armstrong. He beat SA Emerging team member Benjamin de Castro. Lucas Jannier of Reunion Island came third and Brandon Benjamin of the Emerging SA Team came fourth.
The Reunion team members have been spending this past week training in Durban, where they will take on the SA team again, as well as a team from Central KwaZulu-Natal and Southern KwaZulu-Natal in Durban tomorrow and Saturday. The Reunion Islanders return home on Sunday, but they’ve already promised to host a reciprocal event on their home turf next year.
Well done Junior SA Team! Hopefully this weekend’s challenge against Reunion Island and the KwaZulu-Natal teams will see a stellar repeat performance!
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Three Saffas Among ISA Scholarship Recipients
The International Surfing Association recently announced the forty recipients of its 2009 ISA Individual Scholarship Programme, and three South Africans are among them.
The lucky Saffas are Brandon Benjamin, Bright Ntuli and Khaye Ngcobo. Congrats to them all!
This is the third consecutive year that the ISA is presenting the Scholarship Programme. It began in 2007 with only five grants awarded. Within one year, it had expanded to 20 scholarships. This year, the ISA has increased the programme by 100%, issuing 40 scholarships to Under 18 junior surfers from 22 countries. They received over 80 applications from 24 countries for this year’s programme.
All the recipients made the cut to become ISA Surfing Ambassadors in their respective countries, because they are inspirational human beings, great surfers and students who want to succeed in surfing and school.
Before announcing the winners, ISA President Fernando Aguerre said: “I believe the Scholarship is a huge step forward by the ISA in areas of the world where we can’t do enough. Together, we are supporting the dreams and hopes of good students who are also good surfers. We went from five to 40 scholarships in three years and we´re hoping to reach 100 in a couple of years.”
The ISA is able to provide scholarships due to the generous support from Billabong, Quiksilver Foundation, Reef Redemption and Global Surf Industries, Inc.
The 2009 ISA Scholarship recipients from other countries are:
Brian Masmut –Argentina
Martín Carricart –Argentina
Joaquín Castanon –Argentina
Dominic Reisch –Australia
Amiya Doyle – Australia
Ametza Nicholls –Barbados
Jade Niccolls –Barbados
Henry Rivera Hidalgo -Guatemala
Jordan Heaselgrave –Barbados
Cristian Rivera –Puerto Rico
James Philips – Trinidad
Victor Bernardo –Brazil
Isaac Norman –Canada
Tomás Villegas –Chile
Camilo Hernández –Chile
Manuel Mesen –Costa Rica
Alberto Muñoz –Costa Rica
Carlos Muñoz –Costa Rica
Roberto Rodriguez –Ecuador
Brandon García –Guatemala
Freddy Morales –Guatemala
Garren Pryce –Jamaica
Leon McKenzie –Jamaica
Nao Omura –Japan
Arashi Kato –Japan
Aman Ashraf –Maldives
Itzel García –Mexico
Jayda Martin Fitzharris – New Zealand
Joaquín del Castillo – Perú
Juninho Urcia – Perú
Miguel Tudela – Perú
Pedro Alcobia –Portugal
Lucía Martino –Spain
Darío Jordan –Trinidad
Federico Longo –Uruguay
Christian Arballo –USA
Demi Boelsteri –USA
Remember these names. We’re almost certain that there are a few future surfing champions among them!
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