Eastern Province surfer, Matt McGillivray from Grey High School, achieved was was arguably the best wave of the recent 2011 Hurley SA Junior Championships in Durban when he scored a 9.9 to win his U15 quarter-finals. “The waves are quite tricky out there,” said Matt after his heat. “I was lucky to catch that one. I could see that it was going to go all the way through so I managed to do a few turns on the inside before setting up for the inside. I just went as hard as I can for the air, and luckily I landed it. I think the wind did help.”
“This has been an amazing event, ” said McGillivray. “We (EP) still have a good number of surfers in the contest and we have such a strong team spirit. I think we might be able to pull off a win on this one.”
Next year’s tournament hosts, Eastern Province, were third to a victorious Western Province who successfully defended the title they won in Cape Town last year when they won the Freedom Cup by the narrowest of margins. The team in blue and white edged out hosts KZN Central by 24 points, the smallest victory margin in the 15 year history of the championships. In doing so the 2011 Western Province Junior Team became the first surfing team from the Cape to win a National title in Durban since the first South African Championships were held back in 1965.
Eastern Province surfers did extremely well with Tahra Uren winning the Under 15 girls final and nine year old Kai Woolf of Eastern Province, the youngest competitor in the 150-strong field, confidently surfed her way to victory in the U13 Girls division.
Robin de Kock, General Manager of Surfing South Africa, commenting on the event said, “The Hurley SA Junior Championships was a huge success. There was some outstanding surfing in all of the divisions and so much talent that South African surfing looks set for the future. In 15 years of holding this event Surfing South Africa will use the success of the 2011 Hurley SA Junior Champs as a benchmark. We are privileged to be partners with Hurley and grateful to the city of Durban for supporting the event.”
