NGO

Nov 18 2016

Share The Stoke (Development Surfing Competition)

Muizenberg has been getting hit hard by the onshore South Easter winds lately, and it was on one of these crazy days that the Share the Stoke development surfing competition took place.

Kids from a number of outreach surfing projects, from as far as Mossel Bay braved the wild surf and ‘supermoon’ spring tides to compete. As wild as the conditions were, all the kids had a super fun time.

MBC entered a team of 5 kids: Asi, Yamkela, Frankie, Abel and Lee (his first ever surfing competition).

surfing development competition

Heat 1 – MBC in Blue

The team decided Lee should be the first to surf in each relay-style heat. All of the guys chose to ride shortboards rather than the easier to ride Learn 2 Surf beginner, foam surfboards. The super rough and windy conditions meant 90% of the waves were just powerful walls of white water. Strong currents took them a hundred meters from where they paddled out almost immediately.  Now and again some of white water waves cleaned up on the inside before washing up onto the beach.The boys managed to catch a few of these and took 1st place in the 1st heat!

Heat 2 - MBC in Red

Heat 2 – MBC in Red

Heat number 2: The winds got stronger and the tide got higher!

Asi and Yamkela got a few great waves, and Frankie and Able looked confident in the wild surf with a couple of long rides each. Lee was dealt a baptism of fire in this his first ever surfing competition but handled the pressure of surfing first in all his heats like a champion. The overall effort from all the guys and some solid team work saw them win their 2nd heat and advance to the semi finals!

Heat 3 (Semi Finals) - MBC in Yellow jerseys (They liked to think of it as the John-John Florence heat)

Heat 3 (Semi Finals) – MBC in Yellow . They liked to think of this as the “John-John Florence” heat

The current WSL Surfing World Champion is the young Hawaiian surfer, John-John Florence – an absolute hero of the MBC kids! The surfer leading the rankings during the year long international surfing tour, wears a yellow jersey/rash vest. This year John-John Florence was in the lead for most of the year and the kids know of him as the surfer in the yellow jersey. They felt extra motivated for the semi final heat wearing their yellow rash vests and made it through to the finals!

keeping warm

They decided body warmth and staying out of the wind was the best way to stay warm before the Finals

The final heat of the competition was held on full ‘supermoon’ spring tide in howling onshore winds. The currents, surges and backwash waves were incredibly challenging – but the kids handled like legends and took 2nd place in the comp!

prize giving

All the kids in the competition received a prize!

winners

Big smiles! (& 2 new Firewire surfboards, caps, Tshirts, Zig Zag magazines and SILVER medals!)

Huge thank you goes to Rory Heard from Share The Stoke and SSA (Surfing South Africa) for putting on such a great event!

The kids are psyched for the next one!

share the stoke

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Dec 11 2015

Wavescape Surf Film Festival

Saturday afternoon we loaded up in Ant’s bakkie and headed with the boys to Camp’s Bay for a swim and movie night on the beach. It was a first for me and so much fun riding in the back of a truck on a main highway and then at the beach digging to form sunken sand sofas to relax and enjoy the open air cinema that is part of the annual Wavescape Surf Film Festival. On Clifton 4th Beach, after finding our place up front near the big screen and once nestled cozy in our newly dug-out sand chairs, with packed sandwiches and fruit in hand (thanks to Shani!), the boys sat back and relaxed, eyes fixed on the pro surfers in the films who go and travel the world  giving their lives to chasing waves. Film after film,  you could see how the boys found inspiration to dream big and chase their passions. And by the end, despite it being late into the night, Asi and Toufie just wanted to jump in the water and surf.
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But soon after the last short film, the crowd cleared up, and we, too, packed our things to get back home. Then came my personal favorite part of the weekend, just sitting in the back of the bakkie with the boys. As the wind out picked up, we tried to keep warm with only one blanket to go around. The ride home was entertaining to say the least. I learned Temba is great at storytelling and has quite the imagination. Whymph will bust out into song with lyrics he’ll come up with on the spot. Asi and Abel I found out share my love for sardines. Phila remains adamant on his views of pumpkin pie (I still have 2 weeks to convince him). And the rest of the ride just felt like I was hanging out with my little brothers! When we dropped off the boys at their home in Steenburg, they were keen to point out to me the nearby corner shop that serves Gatsby. It’s apparently a local favorite dish and a must try while in South Africa. It’s going to happen!!

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Besides all I learned from the boys riding in the bakkie Saturday, a sweet highlight from my second week here and something that became very apparent to me was the huge heart of the man behind MBC. In these 5 years, Ant Scholte has done much more for these boys than simply introducing them to a love for surfing. He invests his heart and his time for them. He provides an outlet for these boys, where they can come feel safe, unthreatened, and carefree–just as kids should be. I see it so clearly. I see it when he gives of his weekends to rest and instead chooses to spend it with the boys. I see it when he stays back to carry their bags, boogie boards, and wetsuits when they forget. He instills values by example, tells them the hard things, and encourages them to pursue the important things. The sacrifice this man makes for these boys is humbling and inspiring! And as the boys would say, “GO MBC!!”

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