Surfer Kids Record Best Finish at 2026 South African Junior Championships
The Surfer Kids Sharks have closed a busy month on the road with their strongest finish yet at the Sea Harvest South African Junior Championships.
Five members of the Mossel Bay-based non-profit made the Eden Surf Riders team for the national event in Jeffreys Bay. Inam Falteni and Azonwabe Matyeke both reached the Under-16 boys quarter-finals and finished equal 10th in the country.
The organisation called it a clear step forward for a programme built around giving marginalised young surfers access to coaching, travel and contest experience.
From Kommetjie to Jeffreys Bay
The month opened at Long Beach, Kommetjie, for the Sea Harvest Cape Crown. Cold water and unfamiliar waves made it a hard adjustment, but the team adapted.
Tebogo Serfontein fought through to the Under-14 boys semi-final. Avethandwa Mosikare finished fourth in the Under-12 boys final. Azonwabe Matyeke also reached the Under-16 boys quarter-finals.
There was little rest after Cape Town. The Sharks then travelled to Jeffreys Bay to represent Eden Surf Riders at the 30th Sea Harvest SA Junior Championships, which ran into early October and finished in two-to-three-foot surf at Lower Point.
Conditions were tough. Howling easterly winds and north-westerly gales tested every heat. The organisation said those sessions were still useful: hard conditions are where surfers learn to adapt.
Equal 10th at nationals
Inam Falteni and Azonwabe Matyeke were the standouts in J-Bay. Both advanced to the Under-16 boys quarter-finals and ended equal 10th nationally.
On day one, Falteni had already posted a heat win of 7.94 points in the Under-16 boys. Tebogo Serfontein won his Under-14 heat with 6.23, and Letabo Mthetho advanced from second place.
The Surfer Kids said the quarter-final runs were their best result yet at the South African Junior Championships, and a sign that work away from the camera is starting to show in the scores.
Avuyile Ndamase, who represented South Africa at the 2025 ISA World Surfing Games, coached with the team through the month.
The programme, a registered non-profit founded in 2010, is supported by Bitcoin Ekasi and Unravel Surf. It publicly thanked both Bitcoin Ekasi, for making national travel possible, and Eden Surf Riders, for the contest experience.
TSK Surf Series returns on 17 October
The junior season is winding down, but the calendar is not finished. The TSK Surf Series returns on 17 October 2026 as part of the Mossel Bay Sports Festival.
Surfers from across the Eden region are expected. The Surfer Kids said the team is coming off nationals recharged and ready to close the year in home water.
What the result means?
Equal 10th will not make national headlines on its own. For a development team travelling from the Garden Route, two Under-16 quarter-finals at the Sea Harvest SA Junior Championships is a measurable gain.
The next test is local. The 17 October TSK Surf Series in Mossel Bay will show whether the confidence picked up in Kommetjie and Jeffreys Bay carries into the final contest of 2026.