Sunset Surf Club
Sunset Surf Club are hosting their annual Night Surfing Classic this coming Friday and Saturday. Which got me thinking....I don't know much about the club, so best I shoot their Chairman a coupla questions! So Addie, tell us a bit about Sunset Surf Club:
Q: When did the club start and what was the story behind its formation?
A: Sunset Surf Club was formed in 1988 by Foozie Jappie, Addie Jappie, Niezaam Jappie and Achmat Salie to introduce the sport to the disadvantaged communities at the Pipe, Pollok Beach where regular surfing clinics are held and which the club has been doing for the past 23 years.
Sunset Surf Club who affiliated to the Eastern Province Surfing Association locally and Surfing South Africa nationally, has come a long way since then and saw many of its members reach various levels of excellence in the sport of surfing from provincial to international levels over the years.
Q: When did the club start and what was the story behind its formation?
A: Sunset Surf Club was formed in 1988 by Foozie Jappie, Addie Jappie, Niezaam Jappie and Achmat Salie to introduce the sport to the disadvantaged communities at the Pipe, Pollok Beach where regular surfing clinics are held and which the club has been doing for the past 23 years.
Sunset Surf Club who affiliated to the Eastern Province Surfing Association locally and Surfing South Africa nationally, has come a long way since then and saw many of its members reach various levels of excellence in the sport of surfing from provincial to international levels over the years.
Q: What are the clubs main activities? Do you hold regular comp’s or go on surf trips etc?
A: The club currently conducts Learn to Surf Clinics from September through to May each year introducing and preparing the grommets (young surfers) for the Eastern Province Grommet (Development) Trials in February each year. The club also hold its monthly club contests at the Pipe, Pollok Beach and Kitchen Windows in Jeffrey's Bay (alternating monthly between these two venues). We also conduct in-house judging and coaching courses for our members and parents. The club will introduce its Tag team surfing series (involving teams) in the near future as we are still sourcing sponsors for the series which involves clubs and school teams on a monthly basis.
Q: How did the concept for the Night Surfing Classic originate, and when was the event held for the first time?
A: The long standing dream of Sunset Surf Club chairperson, Addie Jappie to stage the first night surfing contest was realised in December 2008 when he instrumental in creating and staging the first Sunset Surf Club Night Surfing Challenge held at The Pipe, Pollok Beach on the 5th and 6th December 2008 which was a phenomenal success and a first event of its kind in the country run by a surf club.
The idea was ignited when in the mid 1990's a few members who was fasting in the holy month of Ramadan decided one weekend to go and surf at night after the evening prayers approximately 22h00. A floodlight, generator and a long step ladder was placed on the "concrete pipe" at Pollok beach giving us temporary light for a surf session. We did the exercise only that one time but it remained in our minds ever since and we always discussed doing it again and as they say "the rest is history" as we are now in the 4th year of the event.
The success of the event resulted in participants and Eastern Province Surfing Council requesting the club to host the night surfing event on an annual basis. Surfing South Africa also supported and endorsed the Sunset Night Surfing Challenge which features on its annual national contest calendar.
Q: It’s cool to see you’re offering free surf lessons as part of the event, do you feel that developing surfing is an important aspect of the club?
A: The Learn to Surf for beginners during the event is vital as it exposes many youngsters to surfing.The purpose of the club's Learn to surf clinics for beginners since its inception in 1988 was primarily to engage the youth in extra-mural activities in order to combat crime, drugs and violence in the northern areas of Port Elizabeth. Initially the founder members went to numerous schools in the northern areas at the time to promote surfing by conducting surfing videos sessions to the school children and encouraging them to participate in the club’s surfing development programme.
Sunset Surf Club saw many youngsters progress through its development programme and during the early 1990's the club initially worked closely with schools in the northern areas providing transport for beginners on a weekly basis to and from the beach. Today, 23 years later, we are still conducting surf lessons every Sunday from 8am to 11am.
Q: There seems to be plenty going on at the beach during the days of the event, tell us a bit about what you have planned?
A: There are more side events included in this year's event such as skateboarding - ramps will be placed in the car park for demonstrations and for the local skateboarders to do their stuff, an open stage will be available for local artists and dance groups to come and perform and showcase their talents, a surf industry expo will be held during the duration of the contest, a beachwear fashion show and local designers will also showcase their talent, jumping castles for the kiddies, a food stall by Families Against Drugs (FAD), Surfing starts at 17h00 each night with the finals and prize-giving ceremony on Saturday night ending at approximately 23h00.
A: The club currently conducts Learn to Surf Clinics from September through to May each year introducing and preparing the grommets (young surfers) for the Eastern Province Grommet (Development) Trials in February each year. The club also hold its monthly club contests at the Pipe, Pollok Beach and Kitchen Windows in Jeffrey's Bay (alternating monthly between these two venues). We also conduct in-house judging and coaching courses for our members and parents. The club will introduce its Tag team surfing series (involving teams) in the near future as we are still sourcing sponsors for the series which involves clubs and school teams on a monthly basis.
Q: How did the concept for the Night Surfing Classic originate, and when was the event held for the first time?
A: The long standing dream of Sunset Surf Club chairperson, Addie Jappie to stage the first night surfing contest was realised in December 2008 when he instrumental in creating and staging the first Sunset Surf Club Night Surfing Challenge held at The Pipe, Pollok Beach on the 5th and 6th December 2008 which was a phenomenal success and a first event of its kind in the country run by a surf club.
The idea was ignited when in the mid 1990's a few members who was fasting in the holy month of Ramadan decided one weekend to go and surf at night after the evening prayers approximately 22h00. A floodlight, generator and a long step ladder was placed on the "concrete pipe" at Pollok beach giving us temporary light for a surf session. We did the exercise only that one time but it remained in our minds ever since and we always discussed doing it again and as they say "the rest is history" as we are now in the 4th year of the event.
The success of the event resulted in participants and Eastern Province Surfing Council requesting the club to host the night surfing event on an annual basis. Surfing South Africa also supported and endorsed the Sunset Night Surfing Challenge which features on its annual national contest calendar.
Q: It’s cool to see you’re offering free surf lessons as part of the event, do you feel that developing surfing is an important aspect of the club?
A: The Learn to Surf for beginners during the event is vital as it exposes many youngsters to surfing.The purpose of the club's Learn to surf clinics for beginners since its inception in 1988 was primarily to engage the youth in extra-mural activities in order to combat crime, drugs and violence in the northern areas of Port Elizabeth. Initially the founder members went to numerous schools in the northern areas at the time to promote surfing by conducting surfing videos sessions to the school children and encouraging them to participate in the club’s surfing development programme.
Sunset Surf Club saw many youngsters progress through its development programme and during the early 1990's the club initially worked closely with schools in the northern areas providing transport for beginners on a weekly basis to and from the beach. Today, 23 years later, we are still conducting surf lessons every Sunday from 8am to 11am.
Q: There seems to be plenty going on at the beach during the days of the event, tell us a bit about what you have planned?
A: There are more side events included in this year's event such as skateboarding - ramps will be placed in the car park for demonstrations and for the local skateboarders to do their stuff, an open stage will be available for local artists and dance groups to come and perform and showcase their talents, a surf industry expo will be held during the duration of the contest, a beachwear fashion show and local designers will also showcase their talent, jumping castles for the kiddies, a food stall by Families Against Drugs (FAD), Surfing starts at 17h00 each night with the finals and prize-giving ceremony on Saturday night ending at approximately 23h00.
|
