The first of four exclusively female beach- and surf festivals covering the South Africa’s summer coastline gets underway on the KwaZulu-Natal South Coast on the weekend of the 8-9 December, when the Billabong ‘Girls Get Out There’ Summer Surf Series starts in the tourist mecca of Margate.
Offering over R110 000 in prize-money and catering for surfers of every level of ability from Novices through Under 15 and Pro Junior (U20) to the country’s top performers in the premier Open division, the events also provide free Learn to Surf and Yoga sessions in a fun and relaxed beach festival atmosphere with music, an MC and plenty of promotions and give-aways for all in attendance.
Entries have flooded in from all over the country for the surfing contests with their lucrative payouts along with ratings points counting towards the crowning of the annual SSA Pro Surf Tour (PST) champions.
The 3A rated Open women’s division includes defending series and event champion Sarah Maritz (Warner Beach), former ASP World Tour campaigner Heather Clark (Port Shepstone), current WQS No. 19 Nikita Robb (East London), Tammy-Lee Smith (Salt Rock) and Capetonians Stacey Guy and Tarryn Chudleigh.
Chudleigh heads the 3A rated Pro Junior line-up where her top challengers are likely to be Robb and rising stars Heidi Palmboom (Bluff) and Sarah Baum (Athlone Park) while Cape Town’s Sabrina Scott and Holly Armstrong face the likes of South Coast local Caryn MacNicol and Durbanites Puvashnee Nydoo and Jessica Swart in the highly competitive U15’s.
The finalists in the U15 division and the Novices category, which is for girls U18 who have never competed in a surfing competition before, will share product vouchers to the value of R2500 and R1100 respectively.
The most deserving local competitor will receive the Kustom Kreative Award and a hamper of Kustom footwear products and the winner of the Von Zipper Expression Session takes home a hamper of Von Zipper eyewear products.
And while all the top class surfing action is taking place in the waves, any girls wanting to try their hand at surfing can join the free beginners’ classes conducted by qualified surf coaches who provide specialised equipment and advice that will soon have you up and riding.
If getting into the waves is not for you, try the free Yoga sessions conducted regularly throughout each day to encourage girls to adopt a healthy lifestyle through stretching and breathing exercises or just chill out on the beach amongst your friends and peers from the rest of country.
Girls in the Eastern Cape, Western Cape and KZN can mark their calendars for when the Billabong ‘Girls Get Out There’ summer fun comes to a beach near you. Following the Margate event, the summer surf series visits Jeffreys Bay (15-16 December) and Cape Town (2-3 February 2008) before wrapping up in Scottburgh on the KZN coast on 16-17 February where the 2008 series champions will be crowned.
The Billabong ‘Girls Get Out There’ Summer Surf Series is sanctioned by Surfing South Africa (SSA) and proudly supported by Soft Lips, FNB, Von Zipper, Kustom, Tropitone and Seventeen Magazine. Lifestyle and action coverage of the events will appear in the Seventeen Magazine publication, on the website Seventeen website, and on SuperSport in television documentaries produced by Silver Bullet Productions.
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