Check out this clip that Martin Kotze put together of Brad Balie skating the Maloof Plaza in Kimberley, South Africa. Brad is one of Kimberley's youngest rippers and he's showing no sign of slowing down. Martin is getting better behind the lens as well! Look out for loads of new content coming out of the Kimberley camp over the next year.

The first stop of the Element Skateboards SA "Continue Discovering South Africa" tour was, of course, the Maloof Plaza in Kimberley, South Africa. Tagging along for the ride were Kanya Spani, Damon de Clercq, Giovanni Votano, and Braxton Haine. The weather was against them for the better part of their stay in Diamond town but they managed to get quite a bit done during their short stay. We pulled out the iphone for only a few minutes and managed to get a few flicks for your viewing pleasure.

Check all the footage that the Funisu guys stacked on their journey to Kimberley in November. Featuring the skating of Maanda Muluazi, Sam Khumalo, Wandile Msomi, Sechaba the Bakersman, and Chinner.

After 2 weeks of rainy Fridays and Saturdays, we were finally able to continue with our monthly schedule and hosted our long anticipated Game of Skate competition, Mini Ramp Jam, and December Skate Jam on the medium section of the skatepark.

For most of the locals it was a relief that 7x Game of Skate winner Theo Setsetse was on holiday in Botswana, it left anyone at a chance of winning! We saw lots of good skating from Enrique Ortell and one of Kimberley’s most talented female skaters, Olivia Feilding, who made it to the semifinals! Katz Morena and Alec Balie were some other skaters to watch out for but in the end it was Will Jenkins and the 2 cousins, Jacques Reynecke and Dylan Niemand, that made it to the finals. Will Jenkins’ fs flips and nollie flips were some of the tricks that sent Dylan and Jaqcques to 2nd and 3rd place.

We held the December Skate Jam shortly after the game of skate had ended with prizes for beginners and advanced divisions. For the beginners division we saw a lot of killer skating but in the end it was Alec Balie, Darren Joseph, and Kwabena that stood out. Kwabenas nollie big spin off the A-Frame and ollie down the 5 were a few tricks that earned him a new deck and 3rd place. The advanced division was tough to judge, as always. Once again there was tons of shredding that went down but in the end it was Brad Balie, DBH, Chris Thorn and Martin Kotze that took the top 4. Martin Kotze had some creative manual tricks like manual all the way down to rock fakie on the quarter and manual up and down the big 4 hubba. We saw some big skating from Brad like ollie down the big 4 hubba and some sick grab tricks from Chris Thorn on the quarter pipe and the A-frame. DBH stood out with lipslide and kickflip to flat on the A-Frame and a 50-50 down the 5 stair. It was an insane session that capped off a nice break before the holidays.

December Skate Jam Results

Beginners:
1) Kwabena
2) Darren Joseph
3) Alec Balie

Advanced:
1) Martin Kotze
2) Dillon “DBH” Hartzenburg
3) Chris Thorn
4) Brad Blie

Game of Skate Results

1) Will Jenkins (Flip deck)
2) Dylan Niemand (Dakine bag)
3) Jacques Reynecke (Toy Machine wheels)

Mini Ramp Contest
Beginners:
1) Alec Balie
2) Will Meleng
3) Bibi Hassan

Advanced:
1) Brad Balie
2) Damian Bramley
3) Jacques Reynecke

It’s summertime in the Northern Cape of Kimberley, South Africa. That also means it’s the rainy season, which unfortunately means less skateboarding. Check out the photo gallery to see what the Kimberley locals are up to when it rains at the skatepark. We even ran into the Balie brothers at the mall and played some pool and even a game of bowling! In Kimberley’s hot and dry climate, the rain comes as a blessing even if it means a few less skate sessions.

The Element SA team makes their first tour stop of the 'Keep Discovering South Africa' tour at the Kimberley Maloof Plaza on 10-12 December. Come hang out and skate with Giovanni Votano, Damon de Clercq, Braxton Haine, and Kanya Spani. There is gonna be some shredding going down, don't miss this!

After the success and hype that was a result of the first Mini All City held last month, we had a great turnout for this month’s Mini All City contest held at the Maloof Plaza in Kimberley, South Africa. 11 teams of 3 skaters came out to compete for a prize purse of over R3000 cash! It was insane how hard these guys skated during the beaming hot sun for several hours.

Wandile Msomi was in the house along with the Funisu team and Wandile was even kind enough to lend his time to help judge the contest. Wandile made it clear that any skater that pushes mongo will be judged quite harsh. Several skaters quickly got it together and made some changes! I think it helped several of the local skaters to correct their push. It’s amazing what an influence a respected skater can make on skateboarding. We have mad respect for Wandile’s recognition of the aesthetics of skateboarding and it’s importance.

We saw a lot of good skating throughout the day but in the end it was the Act of Boredom team that stepped it up from last month and landed the November Mini All City Title and R1500 in cash! Congrats, guys! Thanks to our judges Wandile, Warrick, and Maurice for duking it out in the hot sun for a few hours, we appreciate it! Thanks are also due to Northern Cape Tourism for support with the prizes and ample shade! Check the results along with the photo gallery for some of the action that went down throughout the day.

1st – Act of Boredom (R1500)
*Theo Setsetse
*Brad Balie
*Martin Kotze

2nd – The Core (R1000)
*Chris Thorn
*Jacques Reynecke
*Morne de Kock

3rd – Killer (R750)
* Dylan Niemand
* Jaden Rivera
* Ebrahim “Bibi” Hassan

SA Pro Skater Wandile Msomi and the Funisu guys consisting of Sechaba the Bakersman, Maanda Muluazi, Sam Khumalo, and photographer Mooki arrived in Kimberley on Friday afternoon to a beaming hot sun and a crowded park. It didn’t stop Wandile from rifling off a nollie 270 to front tail on the bank to ledgeright out of the car! Maanda and Sam were killing the A-Frame without hesitation. Maanda’s waist-high nollie flips and nollie heels were blowing minds! Check the rad photo of the nollie flip that Martin Kotze shot. The guys continued to film throughout the day and battled the hot sun for the next few hours.

The next day was the Mini All City contest. Wandile was kind enough to help judge throughout the day while the rest of the guys rested until the sun went down. Wandile made it clear at the beginning of the day that pushing mongo would result in point deduction! I think it really helped a few of the locals to start pushing proper; we’ve seen improvement in a few skaters’ step since Saturday. After the contest was over and the sun went down, Sechaba and Wandile got a few rad lines in. Keep an eye out for the footage in an online Funisu clip coming soon! The guys skated til about 11pm and decided it was time to cut a rug on the dance floor so we headed to Lil John’s favorite night club in Kimberley- Kim by Night. We’ll just say it was fun.

Sunday’s heat was probably the most ruthless throughout the weekend, but it was the last day that the guys had to buckle down and get some street footage. It was cool to get out of the skatepark for the day and check out a few of Kimberley’s best skate spots. We need to do this more often! The guys came out with some clips and Mooki snapped a few sick photos. Look for some coverage of the weekend in issue 51 of Session Magazine, coming soon!

Thanks to Wandile for bringing his crew down to the plaza for the weekend and stoking the kids out along with lending his time to help judge the Mini All City contest. It was a productive weekend for the Funisu team and we’re stoked that Kimberley was a stop on the first Funisu tour!

-Chinner