National Surfing Challenge to celebrate Women’s Day
Women’s Day on 9 August will be celebrated countrywide by the surfing community through the inaugural Women’s Day Surf Challenge presented by Surfing South Africa (SSA).
Simultaneous events in Durban, Port Elizabeth and Cape Town have attracted the cream of the country’s past and present female surf stars who will be vying for prize-money and points in the SSA Pro Surf Tour ranked events while dozens of aspiring surfers have the opportunity to meet and mingle with their heroines and compete for valuable prizes in the Rookie division.
Each venue will feature 1A rated PST events for Open Women, Under 20 and U16’s with R2 500 in prize-money at stake in each division along with a Rookies division for girls 14 and under who have not previously represented their Province. Entries are R30 for Rookies and R50 for the other divisions and can be made at www.surfingsouthafrica.co.za. Entries closed at 6pm today (Thursday August 5).
In addition to the surfing action there will be lucky draws and fund raising raffles at each venue which will benefit CANSA to promote awareness of breast cancer.
The Durban event will be held over two days (Sun & Mon, 8 & 9 August) due to the number of entries and will also include a longboard division with all participants meeting at the Bay of Plenty at 8am on Sunday and the final rounds scheduled for Monday.
Amongst the celebrities participating are reigning ISA Women’s World Masters Champion Heather Clark, former multiple SA champion Tamarys de Maroussem and Kay Holt who has represented SA on seven occasions and says this will be her final swansong in contest surfing.
Clark, the current SA Champion, has been given leave of absence from the SA Masters Team camp at Coffee Bay to surf in the event. The SA Masters Team leaves for Panama on August 23 to defend their World title at the ISA World Masters Championships.
Further details on the Durban contest can be obtained from coordinator Ann Wright on 082 707 6952.
The Cape Town Women’s Day Surf Challenge is most likely to be run in the Muizenberg area and participants will meet at Surfer’s Corner at 8am on Monday 9 August to decide the venue for the one-day event. SA national team member Stacey Guy and SA Junior Team member Tanika Hoffman will be competing along with Tasha Mentasti, who is the coordinator and can be contacted on 083 225 4900.
Hannalie Bakker on 084 8211753 is the coordinator of the Port Elizabeth event where rising star Banca Buitendag will be competing. Participants should meet at Pollock Beach at 8am on Monday.
The Women’s Day Surf Challenge is supported by the National Lottery Distribution Trust Fund and Sport & Recreation SA while the media partners for the events are Gsport for Girls and Saltwater Girl magazine.
The Women’s Day Surf Challenge is proudly partnered by Skullkandy, Power Balance, Billabong, VonZipper, Rip Curl, Aquarius Screenprinting and Vic Bay T Shirts.
Power Balance is donating a percentage of the September sales of pink Power Balance bands to CANSA and also providing a prize for the “Power Balance Power Move” at each event. Additional prizes are coming from Surf Centre in PE, Pull-In Underwear, Glaceau Vitamin Water and Derevko wetsuits.
Surfboards will be raffled at each event venue to raise funds for CANSA with Safari Surf donating the board for the Durban event, Dennis Ellis for Port Elizabeth and a surfboard will also be raffled in Cape Town.
An list of entries for the Women’s Day Surf Challenge is available on www.surfingsouthafrica.co.za and the heats, formats and schedules will be posted on the same website by 6pm on Friday August 6. No entries will be accepted at the beach on the days of the event.
Surfing South Africa is the governing body for the sport and is recognized by Sport and Recreation SA (SRSA). SSA is a member of the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (SASCOC) and the International Surfing Association (ISA).
