The South African Surfing Team have just departed our shores en route to Santa Catalina, Panama, where they will be competing in the 2013 ISA World Surfing Games against 150 of the world’s best surfers from over 25 nations. The SA team consists of Shaun Joubert (captain), Davey Brand, Mikey February, Davey Van Zyl, Tanika Hoffman and Faye Zoetmulder – a strong mix of competitive experience and raw natural talent, and overall Team Gold is their goal.
The venue for the Games, Santa Catalina, offers plenty opportunity for competitors to unleash their full repertoires with both barrels and rippable sections – which will no doubt please the strong SA Team down to a tee.
Of course the entire team is capable of throwing down massive moves on demand, but one of the surfers to watch out for would be Michael February, who in a stacked semi-final at the recent RVCA Junior Series at The Point, J-Bay, showed the crowd just how broad his bag of tricks is by unleashing a high-flying display and a near perfect 19.50 out of a possible 20.00pts. A repeat of that performance would easily see M-Feb scoop ISA Gold.
The ISA World Games kick off on the 4 May, with the official opening ceremony, and the entire event will be webcast live via http://isawsg.com/. Tune in and cheer our team on.
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ISA World Surfing Games
Santa Catalina, Panama
May 4 -12, 2013
South African Team on their way to the ISA World Surfing Games in Santa Catalina, Panama
The South African surfing team leaves for Santa Catalina in Panama today to join approximately 150 surfers from over 25 nations in the 2013 ISA World Surfing Games.
Regarded as the “Olympics of Surfing”, the ISA World Surfing Games is a competition for teams of four Men and two Women who compete for the title of World Team Champions as well as individual honours. The event gets under way on Saturday May 4 with the ceremonial Parade of Nations and ends with the finals on Sunday May 12.
Up until the 2011 World Surfing Games, teams included two longboarders but they will no longer compete in this event as ISA will be presenting the inaugural stand alone World Longboard Championships in Peru later this year. In 2011 Australia beat Brazil to take the World Team title while South Africa finished in 7th place overall.
The team selected to represent South Africa this year are made up of talented young surfers with recent international experience and although the average age of the side is just 22, much is expected of them.
The only surfer in the South African team who has competed in a previous World Games is Tanika Hoffman (Cape Town) who was in Panama in 2011. Shaun Joubert (Mossel Bay) is the most experienced surfer internationally and is the top seed in the Men’s group. Joubert is currently based in California but his experience and leadership qualities have seen him named as captain of the side. He will join his teammates in Panama on Tuesday.
The other members of the team are talented Mike February and David Brand (both Kommetjie), David Van Zyl (Glenashley) and new cap Faye Zoetmulder (Cape St Francis). The team will be accompanied by Etienne Venter (Jeffreys Bay) who will be the manager/coach.
The SA Team members were handed their colours by newly crowned ISA World Masters Champion Greg Emslie at a ceremony in Jeffreys Bay last Saturday. The team has been provided with kit by RVCA.
Surfing South Africa is the recognized governing body for the sport in South Africa. SSA is a member of the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (SASCOC) and the International Surfing Association (ISA)