by Greg
15. December 2010 09:01
South African surfing suffered a blow when Travis Logie fell off the World Tour last week after loosing his round one heat at the Billabong Pro Pipeline in memory of Andy Irons. Jordy Smith has shadowed all other South Africans this year with his rise to number two in the world but can South Africa rely on one surfer? Rosy Hodge and Nikita Robb have also fallen off the women’s World Tour so with no representation on the ASP Women’s World Tour and just Jordy Smith on the the Mens World tour, all the pressure is on Jordy to keep South Africa on the map!
I don’t mean to be negative but it is tough when a country has to rely on one surfer. There were only a handful of South African’s in Hawaii this year and yes by all accounts juniors like Shaun Joubert and Dale Staples where ripping and putting in the hours but it is difficult to expect 2 South African juniors to make an impact against hundreds of Ozzies, Brazilians Americans and Hawaiians!
2011 needs a big push from South Africa. Jordy Smith could well be World Champion, which will make everything I have said irrelevant because a South African is the World Champ! However what happens if Jordy is injured or breaks a leg? It is time for the juniors to step up, get on tour and Qualify. The idea of doing a few contest here and there is a waist of time, go in there and do the job properly, find jobs overseas if need be, use your prize money to get to the next event, do whatever you have to do to make it and don’t come home and give up until you have given it a proper crack!
Hawaii has been playing hardball with the Billabong Pro in memory of Andy Irons. Small surf has prevailed and competition does not look set to begin before Wednesday or Thursday when the next swell is predicted to hit the North Shore. There are some great match-ups on the way, including Joel Parkinson vs Owen Wright in heat 2 of round 3 and South African Jordy Smith will be up against local Hawaiian David Wassel in heat 9 of round 3 so be sure to watch.
Greg Emslie
Jordy Smith has been flying the flag for South African surfing