SA Champs: Day 5 Development Clinic a Raging Success
posted by Gareth White on 28th September 2007
The 21st annual 5A rated South African Bodyboarding Championships have seen some awesome riding from some of the top riders South Africa has to offer and organisers felt that conditions today were not suited to the running of any of the divisions.
We arrived at the Wedge this morning to find it almost flat, it was subsequently decided to make use of the window period and delay the running of the event until tomorrow as bigger swell is apparently on its way.
The swell and wind reports for Plettenberg Bay all indicate the overnight arrival of swells in the region of 5.0 metre ground swell, heading in a South West direction. This should wrap perfectly around Robberg and filter into the Bay, generating decent waves. The wind should be light South South West, which is slightly side shore, but should not pose a threat. Organisers are praying that the swell arrives as they need to run all the remaining heats tomorrow.
Although there was no competition today something of great importance did take place on the beach, in the form of the debis development clinic for underprivileged children. The children come from Harkerville, a small village outside Plettenberg Bay and for some this was the first time that they had been to the beach. Hard to believe isn’t it, that children who live so close to one of the most beautiful seaside towns in South Africa have never been given the opportunity to walk on it’s pristine beaches or bask in the warmth of the sun after a swim. I suppose such is the reality of life in South Africa for the majority of the population.
The children belong of a Non-Profit Organisation called Born In Africa (BIA,) that has 324 children to whom it offers educational support and social development. BIA is a Belgian/South African NPO whose activities are aimed at stimulating the educational development of youngsters from underprivileged backgrounds living in previously disadvantaged communities in the Bitou district. By creating better opportunities for youngsters to participate in the labour market, they hope to improve the current situation of social and economic distress.
Education co-ordinator for BIA, Belinda Coram, “We help the children by taking them on outings, for camping weekends, paying for their school uniforms and funding their education and in this way we hope to provide them with a brighter future.”
The children excitedly arrived on the beach and were welcomed professional bodyboarders from various Provinces. The children were each given a wetsuit, board and fins - all kindly donated by Reef Wetsuits South Africa. Despite the weather being slightly overcast the children were keen to get in the water and try bodyboarding for the first time.
Next year the South African Bodyboarding Association (SABA,) will be running a far more structured development programme that will have four focal points.
SABA executive committee member and development co-ordinator, Michael van Huyssteen, “Firstly we hope to retain debis as sponsor for this kind of clinic, which is aimed at social development and will probably be run at future SABA events. This kind of grass-roots clinic aims at offering bodyboarding to disadvantage children who might not have been given the opportunity before. It is kind of a “jackpot” system where through running them we might find the next World Champion.”
SABA will also be looking developing participation in bodyboarding at a club level, re-introducing the sport at schools and provincially in the Boys Division.
“The most important aspect to the development clinics is sustainability and that SABA can monitor developments in order to spot future prospects,” added van Huyssteen.
While the children played in the breakers something quite special happened. A pod of dolphins decided to pay them a visit, it was stunning to see the joy on their faces as they watched the dolphins jump out of the water as they swam past. The children seemed to enjoy their time in the water and some wished that they could do this more often, but sadly the day had to come to an end.
SABA would like to thank all those that made the clinic possible and hope to be able to continue running these events.
The South African Bodyboarding Championships 2007 is hosted by the Eastern Province Bodyboarding Association together with the South African Bodyboarding Association and is brought to you by
Science Bodyboards,
Reef Wetsuits,
Factory 7 Bodyboard Shop,
debis Fleet Management, Pennypinchers,
Plett Tourism / Bitou Municipality,
Robberg Estates, Bobbin Craft,
Arnette,
Environ and
Havaianas.
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