DURBAN - Four KwaZulu-Natal teens have been selected to represent South Africa at the World Junior Championships at Huntington Beach, California.
Three of the quartet - Tide-Lee Ireland, 15, Kayla Nogueira, 14 and Luke Thompson, 14 - are from Durban while Gabriella Lailvaux, 16, is from Westbrook. All four are home-schooled. Surfing SA general Manager, Robin de Kock said the event would take place in October and November.
“This has really been my dream since I first started surfing,” said Luke.
“It has involved a lot of hard work.” His daily surfing companion, Tide-Lee said he was “stoked” having also invested in training five days a week and going to gym for two days.
Kayla will be going to the event for the second time.
“I hope to do better this time. I didn’t do too well last year. The waves were small and very inconsistent but I’ve spent this year trying very hard.”
The Durban trio will participate in the under-16 competition while Gabriella will take part in the under-18s.
The need for funds still stands in the way of their reaching their California dream as their experience will have to be self-funded. Each one has a page on the fund-raising site www.backabuddy.co.za.