Pollock Beach in Port Elizabeth will play host to Surfing South Africa’s premier entry-level surf tournament, when the 2007 Reef Wetsuits SA Grommet Games takes place from April 5 to 8.
The annual event is presented by Nelson Mandela Bay Tourism with support from Sport and Recreation South Africa, and forms part of the Splash Festival, which traditionally takes place in the Friendly City over the Easter weekend.
Over 180 surfers from eight provinces will take part in the tournament, and many of the young girls participating will be representing their provincial teams for the first time.
The event was introduced onto the national calendar to give surfers from around the country an opportunity to compete in a major tournament for the first time.
In fact many surfers who began their competitive surfing careers in the Grommet Games, have gone on to surf for their main provincial teams at the SA Junior Championships and the SA Championships, and have represented South Africa in National Teams at International competitions.
This will be the third year that Reef Wetsuits will be putting their support behind the four day championship as the main sponsor, and they will join with the "Watersports Capital of Africa" and Sport and Recreation SA to once again make the Grommet Games one of the features of the Splash Festival, and a focus of Surfing South Africa’s transformation initiatives.
This year Surfing South Africa celebrates the 16th edition of the Grommet Games, which was born out of Surfing’s unification process back in 1992. Port Elizabeth has hosted the last 14 tournaments, and all of these have been part of the annual Splash Festival.
Port Elizabeth is the traditional venue for this significant championship, as it is situated mid-way between Durban and Cape Town, which means that most of the teams have to travel the same distance to participate.
In addition, Pollock Beach is the ideal beach break venue producing consistent, contestable conditions for surfers representing their provincial teams in their first ever national contest.
The Reef Wetsuits SA Grommet Games is regarded as a premier Surfing South Africa Championship, and has taken its place alongside the National Junior, SA Masters and SA Championships as one of the defining tournaments on the Surfing South Africa calendar.
Because of its popularity, most of the provinces hold selection trials prior to selecting their teams and officials who will travel to Port Elizabeth.
The youngest surfers at the contest surf in the Under 8 Division, ranging up to the oldest participants competing in the Under 16 group, and both girls and boys from a mixture of different cultures and communities are represented across the seven divisions.
Surfers are drawn from the rural villages of Southern KZN and the Northern KZN region and others are from a rural surf club in Port Edward.
Surfers from Jeffrey’s Bay contribute a significant number of surfers to the EP team while Port Alfred, the Cape Flats and of course Port Elizabeth will provide a number of the competitors who will all be in action at this year’s event.
What makes this event so unique is that teams are made up of individuals from different communities and cultures, all of whom spend five days together getting to know each other and competing for their provinces.
Essentially the SA Grommet Games is about transformation within Surfing, and Provinces are set strict criteria when it comes to selecting their teams.
While much of the focus is on surfing itself, the Games also focuses on participation in events such as a paddle battle, beach flags and tag team competition, with the most participative and successful team winning the Mandela Bay Best Team Trophy.
The result of the process of team selection within the eight regions and three provinces is a wonderful five days of social and competitive interaction, and the added advantage is that Surfing SA is able to identify potential national and perhaps even future world champions.
These talented surfers will be included in the National Development Academy for three years, and will get their chance to compete as a Future Stars team against Provincial sides.
They will also be given the opportunity to visit the Nelson Mandela Bay University’s Sport science department, where they will undergo training by professionals.
Thanks to support from Sport and Recreation South Africa, Surfing SA is able to assist with the travel and accommodation costs of the disadvantaged athletes in each of the eight teams.
The 2007 Reef Wetsuits SA Grommet Games will get underway with an opening function at the Summerstrand Inn at 7pm on Wednesday April 4, and the competition will begin at the Pipe on Pollock Beach at 8am on April 5. It will end with the finals at about midday on Sunday April 8.
Eastern Province Surfing Council are the hosts of the tournament, and they will compete against teams from Western Province, KwaZulu Natal, Border, Boland, Southern Cape, Southern KZN and Zululand.
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