It has been a tough stint over in Japan for the SA Team at the ISA World Junior Surfing Championships. Their blades proven blunt in comparison to the Samurai swords of other nations. A blood bath. All South Africans knocked out before finals day.
Adin Masencamp was the last to go, surfing his way through just under a thousand heats before getting knocked-out in Repercharge 9 – two heats before the final. But who can blame the groms?! Four man heats in sloppy beach break conditions – that’s not what we’ve taught our kids. We live in a land blessed by the most generous of the wave gods, with firing waves all round for everyone (except Port Elizabeth). Every corner of the country has great waves. You just whip out a map, or more realistically open up Google maps on your iPhone, and point to any place on the coastline (not PE) and it’s probably four-foot and cooking right now. Offshores gently grooming the waves into perfection with a couple of barrels on the inside double-up section.
Well what do you know! Another day of piping hot waves. Casey Grant obliges. Image: Greg Ewing
The South Africans are thus at an unfair disadvantage. How can we expect them to compete in one-foot slop when they feast on barrels? Where do they go to find a weak wave when they dine on superfluous power? It’s not their inability that’s at question but perhaps their diet. Surfing cooking waves doesn’t prepare you for slop, and surfing slop doesn’t prepare you for J-Bay.
Nevertheless we’re proud of our groms. The South African team is currently lying 12th on the overall team rankings, and hopefully they won’t slide further down after finals day. Click here for more details of the event. And enjoy the gallery below of the team shredding it up during their heats.
Well Durban is the perfect spot to hone your WQS skills.
Unfortunately when the onshore blows there’s no one surfing, pro’s included.
Everyone is sipping lattes, catching up on golf or something else .
Not a recipe for success.
Only when freaks like Jordy get accidently spat out of our shores, is when miracles happen.
Unfortunately not too often.
Lame excuse imo, how then do you explain the success of JJF, Irons brothers etc, how grew up in cooking, powerful waves and also had to qualify through the QS?
Fair play for sticking up for the juniors, but I ain’t buying it, sense a bit of entitlement at play here, hope I’m wrong though.
Big fish in a small pond syndrome, they need to work harder on their surfing and spend less time on telling their mates that they are pro surfers. You are a giant whale in a splash pool filled with guppies. Parents wake up and get a grip your little baby is not the best in the World and wont be until you have an attitude adjustment and make them work for what they want, parents stop making excuses for your kids when they lose these kids have been pussyfied and your to blame.
Lame! The were crap stop making excuses for them. Bunch of pre-madonnas!
Terrible excuse. Bottom line, if you want to compete against the worlds best young surfers out there, more training …more focus (in all conditions). Its simple work harder (we have the talent).
Your excuses and reasoning for the lighties doing so kuk are laughable if not pathetic. Saffas are lying 12th so according to you that means all the countries placed above us have crappy, crumbling beach break waves that allow their surfers to practise for the competitive world of pro surfing thus excelling in Japan? I think not.
Perhaps instead of knocking PE it may be the best training ground for our lighties/aspiring pro surfers after all.
Exactly, if PE has the kakest waves and if the spon’oed guys cant get a 7.5 minimum in kak waves,why waste money on airfares?
Judging on the new juniors coming up,only a local freak is going to turn heads in the future.