SA bodybuilders in Gtown

The South African Natural Bodybuilding Championship will be held for the first time in Grahamstown on Saturday 1 October.

The event will be held at Graeme College.

Building up to the internationally recognised event, the provincial championship will be held in Port Elizabeth in September, where a number of Grahamstown students and locals will compete. Johan Botha, a founder of the Makana Natural Bodybuilders club will be overlooking much of this event's organisation. "We are very excited, hopefully we will have a few Grahamstown people competing," says Botha, taking a sip from his five-litre water bottle, preparing his body for its weight loss cycle.

In order to compete in this event, one would have to win a local event, then win at a provincial level event to move on to the South African Championship. The winners of this event will be able to compete on a world stage among the best from every country.

The competition will be organised by South African Natural Bodybuilding as well as Makana Natural Bodybuilders Club. The club has been running in Grahamstown for four years. After their initial facility was broken into multiple times, the club is currently looking for new premises. The problem that a lot of clubs like Makana Natural Bodybuilders Club have, is that they are not well supported and therefore not well-funded.

The event will be held on a Saturday with weigh-in on the Friday night. When considering the number of years and preparation it takes to compete at a national level, there should be many South Africans bringing the best they have got to Grahamstown.