Teen surfer’s dreams are coming true

DURBAN surfer, Luke Thompson has been included in the 2018 SA Junior Team which will compete in the Vissla ISA World Junior Surfing Championships at Huntington Beach, California, USA from 26 October to 4 November.

Luke, who only started surfing at the age of 10 first represented KZN at the age of 12, and now at just 14 surfs for KZN in the U16 division and has earned his green and gold blazer and fulfilled his dream of representing his country.

“Luke’s dad was a surfer and when we moved to Durban four years ago and he got into the ocean for the first time, that was it! He lives stoked and loves pushing the boundaries with surfing, throwing all caution to the wind. One of his favourite waves is his home break, New Pier. He loves the localism and beach community he’s a part of, is always learning from and being encouraged to surf at new levels by the locals,” said his proud mum, Dene.

Luke is currently managed, mentored and sponsored by Graham Smith of Graham Smith Surfboards, as well as sponsors, Quiksilver and Hurricane. He is coached by Quintin Jones, who took him under his wing from day one.

To date, 2018 has been Luke’s best year, starting with his win in the WSL Pro Junior at Nahoon, where he beat his older peers to take the win in the U18 JQS event.

He followed that up with a win in the Ballito Pro Junior U14 boys division, and was invited to join nine of SA’s Top U16 Surfers to compete in the SA Junior Trials in PE. He won each of his four trials and was invited to represent SA at the Vissla ISA World Junior Champs in October. He is the youngest in his division at just 14 and is the SA top seed for Worlds.

This month, Luke placed second in the SSA St Mike’s Grom Comp U14 boys division and won the U16 boys division.

ALSO READ: Naude sets sight on international competition

“It’s been his dream to represent his country and now is his opportunity. He wants this more than anything. He is excited to be traveling with the team, so we are asking the community to partner with him on this journey,” said Dene.

Dene, who is a single mom, said she has been fundraising ‘manically’ since she got the letter to say Luke had made the SA team and said the challenge of raising R56 000 for the trip was extremely daunting.

“We put up a BackaBuddy page and people were amazing and generous. We raised R24 000 in a few weeks and a recent fundraiser raised a further R11 000. We still have R20 000 to go and I am appealing to the community to help make this happen for Luke,” she said.

To help with donations, contact Dene on 082 610 5775 or email: dene.thompson@gmail.com.

Do you want to receive news alerts via WhatsApp? Send us a WhatsApp message (not an sms) with your name and surname to 060 532 5535.

You can also join the conversation on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

PLEASE NOTE: If you have signed up for our news alerts you need to save the Berea Mail WhatsApp number as a contact to your phone, otherwise you will not receive our alerts