Surfing South Africa’s premier inter-provincial event for u12, U14, U16 & U18 girls & boys comes to Durban’s renown New Pier in Durban, KwaZulu Natal from Thursday 28 September to Sunday, 1 October.
South Africa’s best junior surfers will get the chance to strut their stuff at Durban’s famous New Pier in a fortnight, when the annual O’Neill National Junior Championships takes pride of place on Durban’s famous beachfront.
Over 200 girls and boys in the Under 18, Under 16 ,Under 14 and Under 12 divisions had to compete in provincial selection trials to qualify for their respective provinces, and will be in action during the four days of competition.
At stake for the girls are 4 individual national championship titles, as well as the Freedom Cup, which is awarded to the team with the highest total points at the end of the tournament.
Each surfer in all of the participating teams contributes towards the winning of the Freedom Cup, so every competitor plays a vital role in their team’s final points tally.
This year the rivalry between the provinces will focus on the hosts KZN, who won the team title seven years in a row, and Western Province, who have been defending champions since they captured the title in 2003, when they won the Freedom Cup at the Wilderness in the Southern Cape.
KZN, who are hosting their third SA Junior Championships since it all began back in Durban in 1996, have included strong competitors in every division, and with New Pier their local break, the hosts must go into the event with an advantage over Western Province and the other six provincial teams.
Last year Western Province dominated the six finals, producing three champions to Border’s two and KZN’s one, but it will not be as easy for any of the visiting teams to score gold this time around.
KZN traditionally defend their pride at home with a great deal of success. In fact, no team from any province has ever been able to beat a KZN team, senior or junior, in Durban in over 40 years.
Other provinces joining KZN, WP and Border in this year’s O’Neill Junior Championships are KZN’s neighbours Southern KZN and Zululand, Eastern Province, 2005 hosts Boland and Southern Cape.
Every year provincial team selection creates some surprises, and some surfers who have the pedigree to compete in the championships do not qualify for their teams.
While the 2005 event provided for six individual champions, two additional champions will be added in 2006, as the contest now caters for girls and boys in the Under 12 divisions.
Under 14 girls winner Tanika Hoffman (WP) is the only girl back to defend her title won in 2005, though 2005 Under 16 girls gold medallist Nikita Robb will be surfing in the Under 18 division.
The 2006 O’Neill SA Junior Championships gets under way with an opening function at the Beach Hotel on the Durban beachfront at 18h30 on Wednesday September 27, and the contest itself will start at 08h00 at New Pier on Thursday September 28, and end at around 15h00 on Sunday October 1.
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