THE Northern KZN Bodyboarding Association started out as Zululand Bodyboarding Association back in 1991.
In that year ZBA sent their first team to the South African Bodyboarding Championships in Victoria Bay, Eastern Cape.
Included in that team were names such as André Marais, Leo Welgemoed, Clayton Smith and John Cawood, who would promote the sport and provide some memorable results in the years to come.
‘The team did well at their first ever nationals, beating two other established teams,’ said Cawood.
‘The riders were very inexperienced at competition and they were the smallest team in numbers. Over the years there have been many notable individual and team achievements.
‘The team has ended in overall 4th place on two occasions in its history, out of eight provincial teams.
‘This is remarkable for our team, who always battle to fill the minimum entrants in some of the divisions and who end always having a smaller team than the other provinces.
‘The province has had finalists in all Divisions over the years most notably Mark McCarthy who has won the title of SA Champ on three occasions.
‘They have had a number of 2nd place overall finishes too for riders in the Mens, Masters and Dropknee divisions especially local team captain Rheinhard du Toit who is still trying to capture that elusive 1st place finish.’
The Association has successfully hosted SA Champs on two prior occasions as well as three national South African Bodyboarding circuit events where more than 100 contestants competed in Richards Bay.
