Schools battle on bicycle for Spur MTB title
“We are incredibly proud of all of our riders. They’ve trained hard throughout the season and their commitment to the sport has been first class."
This year’s Spur MTB League Inter-Schools Final ended with Garsfontein High School being crowned the champions in the mixed and men’s categories in Magaliesburg on 7 and 8 October.
The event, hosted by Bekker High School, welcomed 433 riders, their parents, coaches and fans to the grounds.
Paul Roos Gymnasium took second place in the men’s overall category, followed by Parel Vallei High School, who were close behind in third place.
Menlo Park High School and Potchefstroom Gymnasium scooped up the second and third places in the mixed category respectively.
Photo: Chris Hitchcock
In the women’s category, Potchefstroom Gymnasium won first place, followed by Transvalia High School and Menlo Park in second and third place respectively.
The event wrapped up the Spur Schools MTB League, comprising months of rigorous training, hours of trail riding through mountainous terrain, 493 participating schools and 46 events across the country.
“We are incredibly proud of all of our riders. They’ve trained hard throughout the season and their commitment to the sport has been first class. First place in the Spur MTB League Inter-Schools Final is testimony to the fact that hard work really does pay off,” said Jan-Albert de Kock, MTB Coordinator of Garsfontein High School.
The Spur School MTB League covers all 9 South African provinces and races take place from May to October each year. The League was launched by Spur Steak Ranches and Amarider in 2009 with the ultimate aim of promoting MTB as an official in-school sport, along with rugby and cricket; as well as to encourage mass participation among schoolgoing children.
“Over the past eight years, the League has shown immense growth. More schools are adopting MTB as an official in-school sport and momentum is growing.
This means we are well on our way to achieving our initial goal,” said Clare Rainey, Spur Brand Development Manager.
Photo: Chris Hitchcock.
Meurant Botha, director of Amarider and principal organiser of the league commended the youngsters and all participating schools for their commitment and dedication to the sport.
“It’s been an incredible season, lots of hard work behind the scenes from an incredible team. But all credit goes to the kids who have trained so hard and sacrificed so much time, including a large portion of their weekends to ensure they do well. We are proud of each one of them and can’t wait to start planning for the 2018 season,” said Meurant.
To wrap up a weekend of great competition, Armand Cronje (16) from Merensky High School won a bicycle, sponsored by Cycle Lab, in the Last Man Standing competition; and Montana High, from the Western Cape, won the 2017 War Cry Battle, beating the 2016 champs, Menlo Park High School.
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