Skateboarding road trip to Thaba Nchu a huge success

A TAXI-LOAD of Kimberley skateboarders swopped the city’s diamond mine dumps for the tranquil village life of Thaba Nchu as the Kimberley Diamond Cup took a road trip to the Eastern Free State this past weekend.

The Free State skaters, including a handful of tourists from Bloemfontein and neighbouring villages, proudly presented their magnificent skate park for the competition.The Mangaung Metropolitan Municipality invested R33 million in building SA’s newest skate park, offering both demanding street and bowl sections.

Despite the cold, windy weather all 20 competitors and the enthusiastic group of fans that came out to the Thaba Nchu skate park had an amazing day enjoying the company of fellow enthusiasts.

Popular Kimberley skater Siphiwe Keshwa was head and shoulders above the rest in a fierce Kimberley Diamond Cup skateboarding battle of the central region neighbours, with Free State’s Kenneth Basjan managing to secure the runner-up spot and the NC’s Thabang Tsillo claiming third spot.

Other Kimberley skaters who travelled to Thaba Nchu included Erwyn Lyon, Mvelo Skuni and South African vert champion Damian Bramley. Bramley instantly became the crowd’s biggest favourite with his high-paced skate transitions and countless bags of breathtaking tricks.

Thaba Nchu was Bramley’s playground and in the end it was no surprise he won Kimberley Diamond Cup’s best tricks of the day award.

Meanwhile, history was made when top South African female skater, Kimberley’s own Natalie Bramley, became the first local female skateboarding judge since 2011 when the sport was introduced in the Province.

She was teamed up with another top South African skater and Kimberley legend Warrick Delport to score competitors.

The Thaba Nchu skaters quickly learned some new tricks from the Kimberlites and it was most encouraging to see that they were not shy to apply such with good effect in the skate battles of the day.

Equally heartening was the support skaters gave to the Kimberley Diamond Cup brand and their eagerness to support its competitions.

The Kimberley skaters enthusiastically punted the Kumba Skate Plaza and after this weekend there can be no doubt that a growing number of Free State skaters will also travel to Kimberley to enjoy the Diamond City’s hospitality.