The Cape Town Grommet team continued their domination of the annual Billabong Grommet Games by taking out their fourth consecutive title this past Friday, 3 April, at PE’s Pipe.

The triumphant Cape Town Grommet team.

Contested annually for the past 23 years, the Billabong Grommet Games has been an excellent stepping stone for South Africa’s future rippers. The event’s aim is to help nurture young surfers across SA, giving them their first taste of competitive provincial surfing, and the Grom Games has proved its success over the years.

Ntando Msibi has risen through the ranks since winning the Grom Games in 2012.

2012 Grommet Games champ, Nando Msibi, is one such success story. The young shredder from Durban took the step up from the Grommet Games to represent his province (KZN) at the SA Junior Champs, before being selected to represent his country at the ISA World Junior Surfing Champs in Ecuador last year.

Time will tell if this year’s winners achieve similar success, but the important thing is that the groms had a bucket of fun. And that’s exactly what they did once again at PE’s Pollock Beach.

Fun was the name of the game.

Check out the results, or read the official press release below. For more photos from the event go to surfingsouthafrica.com

RESULTS: 2015 BILLABONG SA GROMMET GAMES

SURFING:

U9 GIRLS:
1st: Zia Hendricks – Nelson Mandela Bay
2nd: Anastasia Venter – Cape Winelands
3rd: Courtney Linke – Nelson Mandela Bay
4th: Cassidy Mussel – Cape Town
5th: Kadence Ribbink – eThekweni

U9 BOYS:
1st: Kai Hall – eThekweni
2nd: Josh Van Wyk – Cape Town
3rd: Julian Carbonel – eThekweni
4th: Callum Emslie – Buffalo City

U11 GIRLS:
1st: Aimee du Preez – Buffalo City
2nd: Luanne Hurst – Cape Town
3rd: Shayla-May Wallace – eThekweni
4th: Josie Venter – Buffalo City

U11 BOYS:
1st: Luke Van Wyk – Cape Town
2nd: Daniel Emslie – Buffalo City
3rd: Benjamin Ribbink – eThekweni
4th: Nathan Cayley – eThekweni

U13 GIRLS:
1st: Kayla Nogueira – eThekweni
2nd: Summer Sutton – Cape Town
3rd: Emma Grey – Cape Town
4th: Kealla Pratt – ED

U13 BOYS:
1st: Mitch du Preez – Buffalo City
2nd: Brayden Bergset – eThekweni
3rd: Travis Pearce – Cape Town
4th: Sebastian Van der Merwe – Buffalo City

U15 GIRLS:
1st: Brittany Gadd – eThekweni
2nd: Maya Sheffer-Boswell – Cape Town
3rd: Courtney Fletcher – Nelson Mandela Bay
4th: Casey Mussel – Cape Town

U15 BOYS:
1st: Anthony Pottow – eThekweni
2nd: Ethan Row – Cape Town
3rd: Maxime Gadeyne – Cape Town
4th: Jesse Christie – Nelson Mandela Bay

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 – 37681pts
2nd: eThekweni – 29921pts
3rd: Nelson Mandela Bay – 27097pts
4th: Cape Winelands – 19491pts
5th: Buffalo City – 18060pts
6th: Eden – 15723pts

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 YOUTHFUL 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

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CAPE TOWN TEAM WIN THE MANDELA BAY TROPHY FOR THE FOURTH YEAR IN A ROW AT THE 2015 BILLABONG GROMMET GAMES IN PORT ELIZABETH

The Cape Town Grommet Team won the 2015 Billabong SA Grommet Games for the fourth year in a row on Friday 3 April and they return to the Western Cape with the coveted 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 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 are available here.

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.

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).