WITH surfing being included as an official sport in the upcoming 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, focus is on the men and women who are going to represent South Africa in the various events.
National competition is therefore extremely important, as this is where the rubber hits the road or, perhaps more accurately, the surfboard wax hits the water.
At the recently held Billabong South African Junior Championships at Jeffreys Bay, local lad Kye Macgregor once again did the Eastern Cape proud in the U14 competition. Although he only achieved a fourth place in the final, it seemed to be more about the available waves than his natural ability on the short board. Macgregor is the current SA U14 longboard champ, this for the second successive year, and says that surfing is his life.
A typical day begins at 5.30am, breakfast and then an hour of surfing before school. At break time Macgregor and his friends skate and, after school, if the wind and waves are right, it’s off to the beach for another surf, or practising with friends on the ramp at home.
“Having a skateboard ramp at home has definitely helped with balance and tricks,” said the young Macgregor. His father, David, who is the proprietor of Shaka Surf School, has erected a double skateboard ramp at his home and is using this to teach the basics of the sport to students, particularly when the waves are not fit to surf. Over weekends Macgregor and his friend, Andrew Laverge who also surfed in the U16 competition, work at Shaka Surf School, “to earn a little extra money”.
Leading up to the championships Macgregor could be seen virtually every day practicing with his dad and friends.
“We would surf all along the coastline in Port Alfred to get used to conditions we could face at J-Bay. I don’t think I let myself down at the champs, it’s just that the waves in the final were not good, and I couldn’t catch a decent one,” said a upbeat Macgregor.
Asked if he felt nervous during an event, it seems that nothing rattles to 13-year-old.
“You feel a little nervous before the event, but once you’re in the water it just feels good,” he said.
“We have a very strong team in the Eastern Cape,” said David. “In most provinces they struggle to find surfers of colour to participate, but not so in this province. We have a lot of surfers from all corners of the province, so quotas don’t mean very much here.”
Macgregor said that his surfing has improved considerably over the last few years, and attributes some of this to his sponsors.
“Surfing can be quite expensive, so having Billabong, Graham Smith boards, Boarding SA, Surfears, Yeti Leather and, of course, my mom and dad assisting me is great,” said Macgregor.
For this reason the Macgregor family has been donating second-hand kit to the less fortunate members of the community, and are in the process of donating three surfboards to township surfers along with wetsuits.
Macgregor says it is his hope to inspire other youngsters to take up the sport of surfing.
