Local surfers to take on the world in Ecuador

Local young surfers Shane Sykes and Richard Kidd were recently selected for the SA Junior team that will represent their country at the 2014 Vissla ISA World Junior Surfing Championship in Ecuador in one month’s time. Sykes, a Salt Rock resident, won his second cap and is the third seed in the under 18 division while Kidd (Ballito) is the non travelling reserve. The team was finalised after a three day training camp held in Cape Town from February 9 to February 11.
In the ladies competition, the 2013 South African U17 champion, Teal Hogg of Umhlanga, got her first cap as top seed in the under 18 girls division.
The South African team is made up of eight boys and four girls in the under 18 and under 16 age divisions and they will join the 300 athletes from over 30 countries at La Fae Beach in Salinas, Ecuador for the biggest international junior surfing championship in the world in late March.
Prior to the main event the team will meet New Zealand to contest the annually run ‘SANZ’ Trophy held between the two teams. South Africa dominated the head-to-head match-up up until 2013 when New Zealand pulled off a narrow win in Nicaragua. The two teams use this international “friendly” to fine tune their competitive strategies only days out from the main event.