The songo.info team enjoyed a successful trip to Joburg for the 2025 SA BMX Championships.
By Brad Stow
The 2025 SA BMX Champs and the last two legs of the SA BMX Cup series took place at Kempton Park BMX club in JHB on the 4th and 5th of October. This is the biggest and most prestigious BMX race on the South African calendar. Myself and the Songo team had been preparing and planning for this trip for the past two months. I unfortunately fractured my collarbone a few weeks before the event, so I was unable to race, but it allowed me the opportunity to put all my energy towards making this trip one to remember for the five kids from the Songo program who were chosen to compete.
With over 130 kids in the Songo programme, it’s not an easy job to choose only five kids. The main criteria we use to choose the team for events like this are performance on the bike, attitude, behavior at the clubhouse, academic results, dedication, and future potential. This year, the team chosen consisted of four boys and one girl aged between 9 and 15 years old. Of these five kids, only one had traveled to JHB before.
After lots of preparation, planning and packing our road trip began. We left the Songo clubhouse in Stellenbosch in the early hours of Wednesday morning and started the long drive to JHB. I was accompanied by assistant coach Ntlantla and my brother Darryn who helped with the driving. After a long but smooth drive we arrived at our accommodation in Kempton Park late that night.
The following two days were spent practicing the track and getting the kids ready for the weekends racing. We also visited Emperors Palace and invited some friends to our accommodation for a swim which was great fun. I really wanted the kids to have fun on this trip and not focus entirely on racing and the stress that goes along with that.
Saturday morning was an early start for the team and I could sense the kids were feeling very nervous. After a team ride by and singing of the national anthem the racing began. SA Champs weekend can feel very intense and I really felt that intensity on the side of the track. I’m usually competing and I actually found being on the sideline even more stressful than racing. The first leg of racing went well for the Songo team and we had great results but unfortunately had some injuries in the second leg which put a bit of a damper on the day. It was a good test for the team and the pressure was on to perform the next day at SA Champs.
Sunday morning arrived and to my relief and amazement the injured Songo riders were awake, dressed and ready to race before 7am. Racing got going and the level of riding was very high. I was very impressed with the teams ability to get over the previous days disappointment and really focus on giving it their all on the Sunday and the results showed. Four of the five Songo riders made it to the finals and got SA numbers which is impressive, especially considering the extremely competitive categories most of our kids were competing in.
I was very proud of the Songo teams results and also how they represented Songo.info over the 6 days. I learnt a lot and there are areas that we can improve on but it was still a great trip and one that I hope the kids will remember for years to come.
I would like to say a big thank you to Specialized Bikes for the loan of their Toyota vehicle. It helped make the long drive so much more enjoyable and comfortable for the whole team. Thank you to Ninety One for their continued support of Songo.info. Without them this trip would not have been possible.