30 Apr 2019 Kings of Stoke | Stoke City Wake Park | Review
Based on the article of the Midrand Reporter : “2019 Kings of Stoke claim their place”.
Stoke City Adventure Park in South Africa recently hosted the 2019 King of Stoke wakeboarding contest that saw fans cheering and contestants giving it their all.
Context
This sport may be a dream of many but it’s costly therefore making it hard for some to take part. However, ever since StokeCity was introduced, things have changed. The park allows for wakeskating (riding on the water on a wakeboard but not bound) and wakeboarding (riding on the water while bound to a wakeboard) without the use of a boat by using an overhead cable system which tows skiers just like a boat does.
After three years of no events, the park’s marketing manager Chantal Holtzhauzen said they saw it fit to host one. The event had fans cheering and contestants giving it their all in three categories, King of Stoke over 19, U19 and wakeskating. The over 19 title was won by Edward Copley who said it was his first wakeboarding competition and it felt great being able to ride with all his wakeboarding friends.
King of Stoke, U19 and wakeskating
Liam Wooton who took first place in the U19 competition said the opening around of qualifying was very tough. Wooton added, “The hardest part of the competition was the finals; we had six of the best riders.” The wakeskating competition was taken by Jacques Labuschagne who said StokeCity was his home and for him to be crowned the King of Stoke felt great. Labuschagne added, “I spend so much time there helping out other riders and it feels great.”
Learn 2 Ride
The park has introduced Learn 2 Ride, a development programme aimed at helping and teaching the youth about the sport, turning them into world class riders. Learn 2 Ride has enrolled Nkosinathi Nhlapo and Prince Mashaba who took part in this competition and are busy training for the 2019 European and African Cable Championships taking place in Germany in September.
“The South African federation is putting in quite an effort in the development programme. Which is good because now there is a lot of junior skiers coming up with a good standard. A few sponsors and the department of sport, which has been helping a lot, have come on board too.”
More events reviews on Unleashed Wake Mag.
Stoke City Wake Park
The Cable Park at StokeCity is South Africa’s only WakePark that boast both a 5-tower cable system, THE MAIN. And a 2-tower cable system for beginners, called THE STRAIGHT. With two cable systems and professional coaches there is truly something for all levels of water sports enthusiasts. The park is also home to South Africa’s only AquaPark. An inflatable water park filled with exciting obstacles including slides, swings, climbing walls, a trampoline and some very slippery bridges. For the swimming enthusiast, there is a 1.2km clean water open-water swimming course. The perfect place to get in some much needed open-water training for that next race or triathlon.
