Team Ethekwini Bodyboarders looking for another win at champs
Ethekwini Bodyboarding Association (EBA) members are ready for the SA Champs in Durban.
MEMBERS of the Central Durban Bodyboarders will represent the Ethekwini Bodyboarding team (EBA) this year as they compete in the 31st South African Bodyboarding Championships in Durban from 2 to 7 October.
The EBA team is without a doubt South Africa’s most successful bodyboarding team, having won the SA title 26 times. They are in contention to win another this year.
Known for their near perfect record, the EBA team enters the event this year as the current champions and they has no intention of losing the title on its home ground.
This prestigious event will bring the country’s top bodyboarders (comprising of seven provincial teams) to Durban for five days of competition. National titles will be competed for with this being the final event of the year. Fierce competition will result in deciding the top provincial team.This will be the fith year that South African Bodyboarding Championships will be hosted in Durban.
Berea Mail chatted to team captain, 27-year-old Michael Ostler who is also a Glenwood resident.
Ostler has been actively involved in the sport since he was ten years old and says he has enjoyed many highlights over the years. “Without a doubt the biggest highlight was starting my own brand, The HandPicked Movement. Entering the business side of the sport, investing in other athletes, building the future stars of tomorrow, that is without a doubt my highest achievement to date.
With regards to competitions, I would say that winning the Freesurf World Tour South African Leg is a highlight, that was an epic win for me.
My proudest overall result would be captaining the South African Team in 2016 in winning a tour against the Aussies. Another highlight would be when I represented South Africa in the World Flow Boarding Championships, where I was runner up to the 7 x champion Billy Tennant (SA).
I have yet to be given my South African Colours though, which is another battle us non-mainstream athletes fight, so that is still on the bucket list of local achievements within the industry,” he said.
Being part of the squad has been his driving force from the start. “I grew up aspiring to be like the leaders I was influenced and guided by, role models. Its surreal that it is now my time to try influence the younger generations and sometimes I find myself still looking for those senior guys guidance and motivation. This team is second to none, I’m so proud to wear the black and white team kit every year, and to be in a position where I am captain and the team leader, it’s humbling and motivating all at the same time!
As for the upcoming competition, Ostler says nothing would make him prouder than to see the EBA team raise the team trophy one more time. “I’d also like to see at least one of the HandPicked Movement team riders raise an individual SA title,” he said.
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