The Cape Town Grommet Team won the 2015 Billabong SA Grommet Games for the fourth year in a row on Friday April 3rd and they return to the Western Cape with the coveted the Mandela Bay Trophy in their hands. Cape Town’s traditional rivals, eThekweni, had to settle for second place while hosts Nelson Mandela Bay slipped into third place this year. The Cape Winelands team secured fourth place with Buffalo City taking fifth ahead of Eden.
The Cape Town Grommet Surfing Team celebrate their victory. Photo: Petro Posthumous
The Cape Town team beat Buffalo City, Nelson Mandela Bay and eThekweni to defend their Tag Team Title while their depth and the fact that they produced 11 finalists across the eight surfing divisions also secured them the 2015 Surfing Award.
The coveted Team Spirit Award went to eThekweni.
The Cape Town Grommet Team’s dominance at this unique 23 year old event is a credit to the commitment shown by Barbara Johnson, the Team Manager and the coaching team led by Head Coach, Craig Johnson.
Close to 100 girls and boys from six provincial districts took part in the annual event which is Surfing South Africa’s premier entry level inter-provincial tournament.
Sponsorship from Billabong, funding from Sport and Recreation South Africa and support from Lotto ensured that the 23rd edition of the SA Grommet Games was a success once again.
The Grommet Games were coordinated with great skill by Event Director Shirley Fairall and her team while Contest Director Brian Abrahams, Head Judge Merrick Fairall and his officials did a great job over the four days of competition.
Surfing South Africa Vice President Johnny Bakker represented SSA at the opening function and throughout the event while Grant Beck and Billabong Team ensured that the SA Grommet Games was a standout on the annual Surfing South Africa calendar.
In the individual surfing categories, the youngest winners were Zia Hendricks of Nelson Mandela Bay and Kai Hall of eThekweni, who won the Under 9 Girls and Boys Divisions respectively. The Under 11 Girls and Boys Champions were Aimee du Preez of Buffalo City and Luke Van Wyk of Cape Town.
Kayla Nogueira of eThekweni won the Under 13 Girls title while Mitch du Preez of Buffalo City was the Under 13 Boys Division winner.
The Under 15 Girls gold medal went the way of Brittany Gadd of eThekweni with team mate Anthony Pottow, taking honours in the Under 15 Boys Final.
Brayden Bergset of eThekweni won the Da Kine Youthful Movement Award and Daniel Emslie of Buffalo City was named as the Surfer of the Contest.
The full results and a gallery of photos will be posted on www.surfingsouthafrica.co.za
The SA Grommet Games is a national tournament with a primary focus on transformation and development within the sport. Strict criteria must be followed when selecting teams for the four days of competition. While the main focus of the event is on surfing, participation in events such as a Paddle Battle, Beach Flags and Tag Team contest are an integral part of the Grommet Games activities.
RESULTS : 2015 BILLABONG SA GROMMET GAMES
SURFING
U9 Girls
1st Zia Hendricks NMB
2nd Anastasia Venter CW
3rd Courtney Linke NMB
4th Cassidy Mussel CT
5th Kadence Ribbink ETK
U9 Boys
1st Kai Hall ETK
2nd Josh Van Wyk CT
3rd Julian Carbonel ETK
4th Callum Emslie BC
U11 Girls
1st Aimee du Preez BC
2nd Luanne Hurst CT
3rd Shayla – May Wallace ETK
4th Josie Venter BC
U11 Boys
1st Luke Van Wyk CT
2nd Daniel Emslie BC
3rd Benjamin Ribbink ETK
4th Nathan Cayley ETK
U13 Girls
1st Kayla Nogueira ETK
2nd Summer Sutton CT
3rd Emma Grey CT
4th Kealla Pratt ED
U13 Boys
1st Mitch du Preez BC
2nd Brayden Bergset ETK
3rd Travis Pearce CT
4th Sebastian Van der Merwe BC
U15 Girls
1st Brittany Gadd ETK
2nd Maya Sheffer – Boswell CT
3rd Courtney Fletcher NMB
4th Casey Mussel CT
U15 Boys
1st Anthony Pottow ETK
2nd Ethan Row CT
3rd Maxime Gadeyne CT
4th Jesse Christie NMB
2015 GROMMET GAMES ACADEMY SQUAD
(individuals recognized for their surfing performances at the Grommet Games)
U15 BOYS
Anthony Pottow (ETK), Ethan Row (CT), Maxima Gadeyne (CT),Jesse Christie (NMB), Lele Zozi (CT),Museeh Khan (ETK)
U15 GIRLS
Brittany Gadd (ETK),Maya Sheffer- Boswell (CT),Casey Mussel (CT)
U13 BOYS
Mitch du Preez (BC),Brayden Bergset (ETK),Zahier Stuurman (CT), Seluleko Cele (ETK)
U13 GIRLS
Kayla Nogueira (ETK),Summer Sutton (CT), Rachel Alexander (CW)
U11 BOYS
Daniel Emslie (BC),Luke van Wyk (CT)
TEAM RESULTS : MANDELA BAY TROPHY FOR THE OVERALL EVENT CHAMPIONS
1st Cape Town 37681
2nd eThekweni 29921
3rd Nelson Mandela Bay 27097
4th Cape Winelands 19491
5th Buffalo City 18060
6th Eden 15723
TAG TEAM
1st Cape Town
2nd Buffalo City
3rd Nelson Mandela Bay
4th eThekwini
SURFING TROPHY
Cape Town
TEAM SPIRIT AWARD
eThekweni
SURFER OF THE CONTEST
Daniel Emslie Buffalo City
DA KINE YOUTHFULL MOVEMENT AWARD
Brayden Bergset eThekweni
JUDGES HEAT WINNER
Merrick Fairall
JUDGING RECOGNITION AWARD
Kia Fenton
BEACH FLAGS
U9 & U11 Girls
1st Rentia Lotolla Eden
2nd Tanna Smith eThekweni
3rd Kadence Ribbink eThekweni
4th Tanith Moreton Nelson Mandela Bay
U13 & U15 Girls
1st Summer Sutton Cape Town
2nd Emma Grey Cape Town
3rd Casey Mussel Cape Town
4th Georgia Sun Cape Winelands
U9 & U11 Boys
1st Luke Van Wyk Cape Town
2nd Byron Emslie Buffalo City
3rd Reagon Roman Cape Town
4th CJ Posthumous Nelson Mandela Bay
U13 & U15 Boys
1st Brayden Bergset eThekweni
2nd Alifa Mwanzi eThekweni
3rd Spe Shangase eThekweni
4th Garrick Hugo Cape Winelands
PADDLE BATTLE
Girls
1st Summer Sutton Cape Town
2nd Maya Sheffer –Boswell Cape Town
3rd Casey Mussel Cape Town
4th Emma Grey Cape Town
Boys
1st Garrick Hugo Cape Winelands
2nd Daniel Love Cape Winelands
3rd Travis Pearce Cape Town
4th Jesse Christie Nelson Mandela Bay
The 2015 South African Grommet Games was presented and run by Surfing South Africa and hosted by Nelson Mandela Bay Surfriders. Surfing South Africa (SSA) is the recognised governing body for the sport of surfing in South Africa. SSA is a member of the SA Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (SASCOC) and the International Surfing Association (ISA).
