Saturday, May 21st, 13 songo.info children plus Ntlantla Nonkasa and myself, Sipho Madlo, travelled to, the newly built Zone 7 BMX track to take part in a double header BMX event. The songo.info programme was represented by the following kids: Lingomso Khonjwayo, Luminathi Nkoko, Lakhanya Skhobongwane, Mihlali Sturman, Khayona Sibonda,Olu Ndlela, Inam Ndobozo, Simamkele Magonqwana, Isakhanya Vimba, Kamva Mtise, Bulumko Mavanda, Yandisa Yolwa and Tsholofelo Letlola.
Lakhanya Sikhobongwane and Kamva Mtise were the top performers of the day in both events, but I was way more impressed by our two newbies, Olu Ndlela and Inam Ndobozo. It really didn’t seem like was their first event, the two raced clean and enjoyed the races.
Having a double-header made the day even more interesting. In the first race we had 11 kids that represented songo.info and 13 in the second event. Both evens were successful, with no major crushes and everyone in our groups raced clean.
In the first race all our kids made it to the finals after the 3 heats and we had 3 podium places in the finals: Mihlali and Kamva finished 3rd, and Lakhanya finished in 2nd in the elite category. But most importantly all the kids rode their hearts out!
The second race again was a success, as 11 of our kids made it to finals and had five podium places: Mihlali finished 2nd in his age group, Bulumko 3rd, Isakhanya 2nd and Kamva 1st. Then Lakhanya finish 3rd in the elite/super class. Was a really good afternoon of racing and all the kids loved it, especially Olu and Inam who were racing for the first time.
Along with seeing the kids racing their hearts out was very special. They carried themselves like throughout the day. It is really amazing to see Lakhanya and Tsholofelo taking the responsibility, looking after the younger kids all day. Their help made it possible for Ntlantla to focus on race registration, preparing food for everyone and cleaning up afterwards. It really feels like the programme is starting to work for itself all around and for me that’s really important part. I am so looking forward to see these kids racing again.
Thank you to everyone that made this weekend possible and especially to Zone 7 BMX Club for a superbly organised double-header. The next stop is the WC High School MTB League in Paarl on the 28th of May. Thank you for the support, we really appreciate it!