Plakkie Classic Surf at Vic Bay this weekend

GEORGE NEWS - The first-ever Plakkie Classic Surf Competition will be held in Victoria Bay over Youth Day Weekend.

Plakkie, named after South Africa's favourite local flip-flop brand, is a newcomer to surfing, but is starting out with R50 000 total prize money - a record for any local junior surf event.

The four-day Surfing South Africa sanctioned contest will include divisions for u.12 to u.18 for boys and girls, with Surfing South Africa expecting record entries because of the significant prize money.

In South Africa, surfing is a sporting code in which male and female competitors earn equal prize money. The Plakkie Classic will be no different.

For Plakkie, the goal of the large prize pot is to communicate that surfing is a seriously South African competitive sport. Plakkie MD Ross Zondagh says Plakkie wants young South African surfers to see their sport taken seriously.

"The message we are sending is that young South African surfers can represent our country proudly on a global level. They deserve proper prize money."

Reza de Nicker of Surfing South Africa says he is grateful that the conversation that he had with Plakkie some months ago about the idea to run a junior surf contest has become a reality.

"The Plakkie Classic is not only an SAST Prime rated junior surfing contest but is also the highest prize-giving stand-alone junior surfing event on the 2022 SSA contest calendar," he says.

"On behalf of Surfing South Africa our thanks to the Plakkie team for their vision and support of junior surfing in South Africa. We now have a unique event on our calendar and I am proud of what this partnership has achieved. I look forward to this one! Thank you to the Surfing South Africa GM, Robin de Kock, for the help and guidance along the way."

The competition is also a vehicle to talk about the mental health issues affecting South African youth.

Plakkie has partnered with the mental health platform Are You Ok? who will be donating a one-month free subscription to all the competitors and their families. Spokesperson for Are You Ok? Nick Dreyer says they are excited to be involved in the tournament.

"After the two-year pandemic, it's great to see live events again, especially family events. And what better way to talk about mental health than in a sporting environment?"