THE board of directors of Surfing South Africa has named the surfers who will represent South Africa at the 2010 Quiksilver ISA World Junior Championships in New Zealand from January 21 to January 28, 2010.

The Under-18 Boys team is made up of Beyrick de Vries of KZN, Michael February and David Brand of Western Province and Dane Staples of Eastern Province. Jacob Mellish of Boland is the non-traveling reserve.

February, Brand and Staples will be representing South Africa for the third time while de Vries earns his second cap. All four surfers previously competed in the Under 16 Division with David Brand earning bronze at the World Championships in Ecuador earlier this year. This will be their first year in the highly competitive Under-18 division.

Representing the U18 Girls for the third time is Bianca Buitendag of Eastern Province, Sarah Baum of KZN and Tanika Hofmann of Western Province, while Heidi Palmboom of KZN is the new cap in the Under-18 Girls group. Holly Armstrong of Western Province is the non- traveling reserve.

Palmboom’s inclusion in the team is a milestone for the Bluff-based Palmboom family, as it means that she joins her father Rudy senior and brother Rudy junior as national team surfers. Rudy senior represented South Africa at the ISA World Masters Championships in Puerto Rico in 2007 and Rudy junior has represented South Africa at the ISA World Junior championships and at the ISA World Surfing Games. The four surfers who will represent South Africa in the Under-16 Boys division, are all new caps and will be making their first trips overseas when they travel to New Zealand. They are Steven Sawyer and Dylan Lightfoot of Eastern Province, Jarred Veldhuis of Western Province and Diran Zakarian of Boland. Slade Prestwich of KZN is the non-travelling reserve. The team will be accompanied by SSA Deputy President Pax Nydoo in his capacity as team manager. The coaching staff will be made up of the legendary Graham Hynes who is Head Coach, Etienne Venter, the Deputy Coach and Josh Salie, the Assistant Coach.

The 2010 SA Junior Team’s first competitive outing will be in Cape Town on October 10 and 11 when they compete in a Test against surfers from Reunion Island, an Emerging Junior South African side and teams from Western Province and Boland.

The team will also be involved in training camps before departing for Piha Beach, near Auckland in New Zealand, on January 16, 2010. — Sapa