By Brad Stow
The last race of the WC BMX Provincial points series for 2025 took place at the Kraaifontein BMX club this past weekend. With the SA Champs and the National series done for the year, we had the opportunity to give a few of the kids who have not raced before a chance to compete. I selected 12 children between the ages of 5 and 16 years old, each with varying degrees of skill and fitness levels. We usually let the selected kids know they are racing on the Friday before the event, and it is always a highlight of their week. This time it was even more special for the chosen kids as it was their first time, and most of them were not expecting it. A few of the kids asked me multiple times if they were really racing, and it took a while for it to sink in.
We arrived at the track just after 8am on Sunday morning and after sorting out registration practice began. The BMX start gate was very intimidating for a few of the younger kids, as it drops very quickly and also makes a loud noise when it hits the ground. But most of them got used to it very quickly. After the team ride by, the racing began and I could see the kids were extremely nervous but after their first race their nerves seemed to settle. Most of the Songo riders competed in the Novice class which is less competitive than the expert class but considering they are all new to racing the teams’ results were very impressive. More than half of them finished on the podium and earned themselves their first medal for BMX.
It was a great day for the Songo team, and it was very rewarding for me to see the excitement and the appreciation that the kids showed. Going forward we would like to try and give each one of the 130 kids in the Songo.Info program a chance to experience some form of racing. I am hoping this can be achieved within the next year or two.
Thank you to our long-time sponsors Ninety One and Specialized Bikes whose support enables us to get to these events.
