Buffalo City surfer Maya Malherbe has repeated her 2023 winning performance at the Sea Harvest SA Junior Championships presented by SMTH Shapes, defending her U12 Girls title in Jeffreys Bay on Saturday, 28 September, 2024.
Malherbe beat second-placed Brin Jarvis (NMBS) in the final, with Camilla Prins (Eden) in third place and Adriana Canning (Ethekwini) in fourth place.
Some of the youngest competitors in the tournament – all of them goofy-footers, right foot forward and backs to the waves, battled it out for the title in clean but small waves at Lower Point in J-Bay, with the honours going to the young East London surfer.
Prins was first to get some scores, picking up three short rides quickly, but Malherbe’s first ride was a noteworthy 6.5 points. Commanding the lead, she played the patient game, waiting for a good-looking wave, and it came, she ripped it all the way through to the inside with numerous backhand hacks for an excellent score of 9.10, leaving all the surfers in a combination situation.
Jarvis was chasing hard, got herself out of the combination, and was in the game with a 5.50 and a 6.33 on the scoreboard but just couldn’t catch up. There was plenty of action, with a fierce paddle battle between Malherbe and Jarvis towards the end of the heat, with Jarvis claiming priority.
Still, with no more waves coming, she remained in second place, and Malherbe won her second U12 Girls title in a row. This was in front of a stoked Buffalo City team who hoisted her off the beach with cheers of ‘Maya! Maya! Maya!” echoing around the contest site.
The event organisers chose to surf the U12 Girls final on Saturday as there is a significant increase in the swell forecast for finals day. The day’s conditions were deemed more suitable for the young girls and their skill and experience levels.
In the U18 Girls quarters, Sarah Scott (Cape Town Surfriders) and Anastasia Venter (Cape Winelands) started off strong, both with points north of 13, with Scott taking the win ahead of Venter. Gemma Hanafey (Buffalo City) surfed an excellent quarterfinal to win convincingly with a 13.83 score, advancing along with Catherine Jacob.
U16 Girls quarters saw Remi Fourie (Buffalo City), Emily Jenkinson (Cape Town Surfriders), Sophia Jackson (Eden) and Taylor Emslie (Buffalo City) all win their heats and advance through to the semis.
The 28th edition of the Sea Harvest South African Junior Championships involves 180 girls and boys from eight districts, and finishes on Sunday.
At stake are individual national titles for boys and girls in the Under 12, Under 14, Under 16, and Under 18 age divisions, along with the coveted Freedom Cup. First introduced at the event in East London in 2003, it is awarded to the District whose team members accumulate the highest points across all age divisions.
The SA Junior Championships is at Lower Point for the 11th year, with support from the Kouga Municipality. The teams competing this year are the defending champions Cape Town Surfriders, former champions Buffalo City Surfriders and eThekweni Surfriders, hosts Nelson Mandela Bay Surfriders, Cape Winelands Surfriders, Eden Surfriders, Ugu Surfriders and Ilembe Surfriders.
In addition to the Freedom Cup and individual championship titles, there is the Loud and Proud Team Spirit award, as well as the Surfing South Africa Junior Surfer Of The Contest trophy.
SMTH Shapes, the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture, Ocean Freedom, Kouga Local Municipality and True Technologies support this event.
Original Copy: Surfing South Africa, with editing by gsport
Photo Caption: Buffalo City surfer Maya Malherbe has repeated her 2023 winning performance at the Sea Harvest SA Junior Championships presented by SMTH Shapes, defending her U12 Girls title in Jeffreys Bay on Saturday, 28 September, 2024. Photo: Kody McGregor
Photo 2 Caption: Malherbe won a repeat U12 Girls title in front of a stoked Buffalo City team who hoisted her up with cheers of ‘Maya! Maya! Maya!” Photo: Kody Mcgregor
Photo 3 Caption: Brin Jarvis was chasing hard and was in the game on the scoreboard but just couldn’t catch up in a fierce paddle battle with Malherbe. Photo: Kody Mcgregor
Photo 4 Caption: Eden Surfriders’ Camilla Prins took third place in the final. Photo: Kody McGregor
Photo 5 Caption: eThekweni surfer Adriana Canning finished in fourth place. Photo: Kody McGregor
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