BMX SA Cup and SA Champions in Cape town
Whilst the weather conditions weren’t on our side on Sunday, the riders rode like champions in the rainy, windy weather. Our young athletes have returned with impressive results: Sanele Shozi secured the title of SA Champ, Ntuthuko Shozi finished 5th, Asanda placed 4th among the fastest 12-year-olds, Nzama took 2nd in the 17 and over category, and Bayanda finished 4th in the boys’ 15 years class. Under the guidance of their dedicated coach, Mvelo “Cheesy” Ntombela, the team not only achieved remarkable results but also had a fantastic experience exploring Cape Town. We also engaged with the Velokhaya and Songo teams, emphasizing that BMX is inclusive for all. We look forward to your support and collaboration in the future.
BMX National Series & National BMX Championships
The BMX National Series rounds 9 & 10 as well as the National BMX Championships was hosted by the Cradle BMX club in Gauteng on the 21st & 22nd September. KZN sent through a large contingent of riders including 14 x riders that have progressed through the KZN Cycling Development programme. This trip made for an exciting adventure for many of the youngsters involved with the track venue being situated in the Rhino & Lion Reserve and gave the riders and spectators alike a unique experience of racing BMX while in view of a variety of African wildlife. The track and facility was in excellent condition which made for exciting racing over the weekend. The smaller size of berms and jumps lent itself to being better suited to younger riders however made the Elite races no less exciting and the KZN team achieved some excellent results with a few outstanding performances. Manqoba Madida won a thrilling final on Saturday for the National Age Group Series but was unlucky to finish 4th in SA Championships race on Sunday after a small mistake in the final despite winning all his qualifying races preceding the final. Following in his brother’s footsteps with a clear natural talent for riding bicycles, Mongezi Madida who is the younger brother of Manqoba managed to achieve an SA 4 placing in the final. To put things in perspective, he is a novice rider who only started riding BMX this year and raced against the Expert Class and well-seasoned riders who have been racing for years. All things considered, it was an amazing result and is an exciting prospect that has been unearthed and we look forward to seeing if he match and possibly better his big brother’s progress on the international scene. Wandile Mbili from Ilembe also achieved an excellent result considering this was his first national event (and first trip out of the Province actually) winning through to the finals and attaining a SA7 number. Tyler Thompson managed to retain his SA 1 title with clinical racing from start to finish. All in all, the KZN team performed exceptionally well throughout and it is extremely pleasing to see the young riders that have progressed through the development programme achieving some exceptional results with ten riders winning through to the finals and being awarded SA numbers. The full honours list is below. Tate Barnard – SA3 Mvelo Ntombela – SA6 Sphelele Ntombela – SA7 Mongezi Madida SA4 Anele Ndlovu SA3 Logan Lambert SA6 Manasseh Meintkies SA6 Jordan Smallbone SA6 Zaid Stofberg SA3 Sisanda Ngcobo SA3 Wandile Mbili SA7 Tyler Thomson SA1 Dylan Eggar Elite 2 Manqoba Madida – Elite 4 Hannah Stieble – SA4 Connor Terblanche Jnr Elite 5
SA National BMX Championships
For the past number of weeks, the KZN BMX Commission has been staging their BMX events that have included a Development Racing Class as part of the programme so as to allow new riders to compete at BMX races against riders of a similar level with the aim being to graduate the better riders into the open classes as they progress and develop. This plan has worked exceptionally well and more and more riders are taking part in the open classes where the aim was then to be able to development sufficiently to be able to qualify for the SA National BMX Championships that is taking place in Johannesburg from the 20th – 22nd September. It really is great to see that a total of 14 x development riders have been selected to compete at the National Championships and are being supported by KZN Cycling (with the funding supplied by KZN Department of Sport & Recreation) and will travel with the large KZN contingent to take on the best BMX riders in the country.
Queensburgh BMX Club
A BIG congrats and thank you to Queensburgh BMX Club for staging a fantastic Nationals. Your hard work and track preparation was extremely evident and you made your province proud. Queensburgh BMX Club
