Bliksem, that was fun! Team Vuvuzela crushed it when they won the Spirit Award at the recent Dragon Boat Festival held on the East bank of the Cumberland River in Nashville, Tennessee. It was also the highest the teams have ever been placed with the gold team winning an overall second, and the green team an overall fourth place.
But most of all, it was fun galore! Participants and their families gathered from early on when the dress-up and building of the spirit began. You could spot the Vuvuzela green and gold teams from a mile and once it was paddles up, their competitive spirits kicked in too. Being placed so well is a monumental feat considering more than 30 teams competed. Organiser Kobie Pretorius said they were overwhelmed by the support they received: “Thanks to all the spectators and supporters – you carried us over the finish line!”
The magnificent paddlers of the green and gold boats were: Vuvuzela GREEN boat: Chane, Kim, Vanessa, Sheree, Sam, Heike, Cayla, Meghan, Rozz, Vickie, Edward, Austin, Drew, Ben, Zach, Wilhelm, Mark, Keith, Daniel, Ed and Malcolm. Vuvuzela GOLD boat: Fabineen, Kobie, Sine, Amanda, Ronelda, Kassidy, Cornelia, Russel, Mias, Marc, Troy, Zach, Jake, Hein, Werner, Alex, Jonathan, Tommy, Mary, Suzanne and Andrew Special mention was made of the Nashville Rugby Club who joined the teams during the race and offered much needed support.
Thanks go to our sponsors:
• Bushveld Company – T-shirts
• Safari Biltong – Race day snacks
• Ntaba Taste of Africa – Race day snacks
• Ntaba Coffee Haus
• Mia Pretorius for Friday night pizza Outfit design and assembly: Kim Lane, Suzanne van Heerden, Hilda Dirksen, Cayla Stewart, Heike Weber, Kobie Pretorius and Keith Harris. Other:
• Ingrid and Galen Perdikis – pizza delivery
• Ruth Agola – fresh meat pies on race day
• Etienne Buckles – Early morning set-up and race day YouTube Video
