La Lucia surfer secures spot for SA champs
Matt Canning is among a team of 23 surfers who will represent the eThekwini Surfriders Association at the SA Surfing Championships.
LA Lucia resident Matt Canning secured his spot in the eThekwini Surfriders Association (ESA) team at the recent trials event on Durban beachfront.
The Northwood School learner is among a team of 23 surfers who will represent the association at the SA Surfing Championships in Jeffreys Bay in October.
Matt competed in the U18 category and said he hopes to become national champ this year.
“I was pleased with my results during the last trials as I have now made the ESA team for the seventh year in a row. My hope is to be the U18 SA champ this year. I also have goals to one day represent my country on the World Surf League Championship Tour,” he explained.
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Before the SA champs the 16-year-old will compete in one more competition, the Sea Havest Cape Crown in Kommetjie, Cape Town, this month.
He explained his father, Paul, who is a professional surfer, played a role in his journey on the waves.
“I was hooked to surfing by the age of five and this was due to constant exposure to the sport by my dad. I just love being out on the water,” he said.
Paul Canning, a Surfing South Africa board member, who also assists the ESA committee in KZN surfing events, said he was proud of everyone who made the final team.
“The latest event was a trial to select the eThekwini Junior Surfing Team. There were eight boys and girls divisions from U12 to U18. I was very pleased and it was especially great to see the number of transformational surfers making the team who have come through the Surfers Not Street Children programme. This is a result of many years of incredible work done by this organisation,” he said.
To put the number into perspective, 15 of the 23 surfers who made the team have come through the Surfers Not Street Children programme, which empowers young people from some of the most challenging backgrounds.
“We now start with weekly training sessions and work with the kids on their equipment to get them ready for Jeffreys Bay and the higher level of competition at the SA Champs,” he said.
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