Shark Attack -The Raggies are back!!

Knysna August 11. Team Cream OTC’s dream like ascendancy to the top of the leader board was slightly tarnished by a surprise defeat to a resurgent Raggies outfit who launched their own savage attack on the tournament rankings. Cream OTC went into the penultimate round of the Kickbutt Super Six undefeated in ten straight games and just two points adrift of ailing log leaders, Team Oxygen Orange, but their seventh round campaign got off to a wobbly start as they were ambushed by the ruthless Raggie pair of das Fontes and Ferreira in the very  first game.  A stunned Taylor and Edwards did however manage to regain their now notorious composure enabling them contain all the other challengers in the next four games and thereby bank a still sizable 18 points on the night. That was more than enough to see them leapfrogging past Orange to the number one spot on the log. The 8 point cushion Cream OTC now hold over the other contenders has all but booked them a place in the Kickbutt Cup Final.

Co-leading the contenders, and lurking ominously in the depths, are the  Raggies, who, although they  have appeared toothless in in recent rounds, finally look to be attaining some sort of man eating notoriety as they gashed off a 7^th round Pentafest  (the wining of all five games of a round). Their night’s s hall of 18 points was eventually equalled by Cream OTC but it was enough to tie them with former log leaders Oxygen Orange at exactly 100 points for 2^nd place on the overall table. That  position them perfectly within a striking distance of a berth in the final. 18 tournaments points is the lowest recorded score for a Pentafest but that is perhaps indicative of the gritty nature of their night’s conquests. The street fighting Raggies are however the only team that has record against the high flying Cream OTC having won 4 of the 7 Super Six games between the two teams. A final between these two dynamic and aggressive teams would certainly be worth paying good money to watch.

After leading the log for six straight weeks team Oxygen Orange sunk to new depths recording just two wins out of their  five games on the night and have plummeted to 8 points behind the new leaders. To add insult to injury, Gavin Hobson picked up the first orange card of the tournament, and indeed in the sports history, for displaying disrespect to the match officials and as a result his team was docked two game points. Ironically that punishment seemed to spur the Sedgefield team on to their best passage of play on the night.  For a short while after the incident a seething Hobson and Oliver played with a hunger we haven’t seen in them since the tournaments opening rounds. They will need to produce a lot more of that if they still harbour any ambitions of reaching the final.

Also with the Cup Final still in their sights, all be it telescopically, are the Black Mambas who are just 4 points further adrift of the tied 2^nd placed teams. On 96 points the Mambas will need a bonus point win just to draw level with the Raggies and Oxygen on the score board, let along overtake them. Only a full on Pentafest in the last round will guarantee them that elusive spot in the Kickbutt Cup although mathematically they do stand a slim chance of making it without winning all five of their remaining games. Given their current form, the hard striking serpents are the one team that could pull off this longshot and it would be brave to write them off just yet.

Completely written off but still with a faint pulse, the Red Eagle’s finally peeled themselves off the bottom of the table at the expense of the mixed doubles Xenon combination who again failed to earn even a single tournament point on the night. Neither of these two teams has managed to record a win against the top four ranked teams throughout the competition and are definitely not in contention for a place in the Kickbutt Cup. The Mambas will be hoping that Xenon or the Eagles can add spice to the final round by upsetting any of the other top four teams in the 8th round and although that seems highly unlikely, it would be a fantastic way to close off the competition for the tournaments “whipping boys’.” The Eagles, desperate to shake off that tag, will still be pondering how they botched a 10 point lead over Oxygen Orange in the last nights round, as are we all. With just two log points separating the Eagles and Xenon it is likely that the Wednesday’s game between these two will determine which of them skulks away with the Super Six wooden spoon.

Rookies Rock The Boat

Young stars stun the 360 big guns.  KNYSNA June 8. Wednesday was meant to be the coming out party of the most talked about team in 360ball in recent months; Team Oxygen but the “rookies” of Montessori crashed the party and almost made it a party of their own. The combination of the game’s biggest “trickster” Gavin Hobson with the most stylish striker to take to the court in recent months, Ryan Oliver, has been the talk of the town in the weeks leading up the Big Wednesday Tournament due to start next week but they were tripped up by the young tournament rookies  before the competition even began. Coming into Wednesday night’s warm up matches Oxygen trumpeted that they would sweep all before them on the social media networks. Arriving late and in contrasting kit, the would be intimidators sauntered onto the court for their first warm up match against the youthful combination of Cameron Tailor and Mike Edwards. Tailor and Edwards looked browbeaten at the sight of their fancied opponents, but that is where the intimidation ended. Tailor and Edwards seized control of the game in the first few exchanges outplaying Oxygen in every aspect and the roles were reversed. Hunter became the hunted. Panic set in and by the time Oxygen regained their composure the game was all but lost. To be fair, Oxygen fought back valiantly and for a while it look like pride may be salvaged, but it was already a lost cause and they went down to the rookies by 12-15.  The rookies themselves were in much need of confidence having been dispatched 15-3 by das Fontes and Hill earlier in the evening and they put what confidence they may have gained to good use almost upsetting Collins& Hill at 15-17 and thumping the Red Eagles 15-6 later in the evening. Overall the performance of this athletic duo sounded a warning to every team in the competition. They won’t get weaker. At the end of the evening however, the boys from Oxygen Orange will tell you that they did take home the only thing they really came for and that was a moral boosting victory over the highly rated combination of das Fontes & Hill.  That packed with wins in their last three matches, saw them proclaim the evening “a success” but in truth, the cold and wet “warm-up night” still left the jocks of the game with perhaps even more unanswered questions than when they arrived.

Press Release – January 2011

A Whole New Ball Game!

New Garden Route Sport makes waves at International Sports Business Awards.

If ever there was justification for use of the expression “a whole new ball game” then this

is it. When Knysna based sporting events company Magnetic South submitted their

concept for adjudication at an international Sports Business Awards, the ISPO Brand New

Awards in Germany, they were not prepared for the level interest the concept attracted.

Just a day after submission the team now has its hands full fielding enquiries about the

game from all over the world. 360 Ball, as the name of the game alludes to, is a racquet and

ball game played in a circular court and was developed right here in the Garden Route.

Although the game in a circle has its origins as a back yard contest between brothers Mark

and John Collins who used to bounce a ball of a circular wooden disc, it is today hardly

recognisable from its original format. Although a version of the game does come designed

for backyard recreation or play on the beach, it is at the top end of the game, in the

specially constructed “Pro Court,” the real competitive sparks fly. Behind the high spec

poly carbon walls, sporting action that rivals tennis, squash or volleyball in every aspect

takes place. This fast paced game produces rallies that are as exciting to watch and as

they are participate in and the players are hooked.

Playing 360 Ball involves striking the ball off a centrally placed concave disc and it differs

markedly from other ball games firstly, in that players of the same team may pass the ball

to each other between strikes, and secondly and perhaps more revolutionary, in that there

are no set sides to the court. Play rotates 360 degrees around the central disc. Although

the rules are slightly more involved than this, it is, like most new inventions, essentially a

very simple concept and many observers are left wondering why it has taken mankind so to

invent this game.

The agency responsible for managing the Brand new awards on behalf of the ISPO was not

however surprised by the interest Africa’s only submission attracted, noting that it was

the first time that a whole new sport had been considered for these awards. The ISPO,

hosted in Munich, is the world biggest sports business fair and takes place in February

each year. The ISPO Brand New Awards, as the name suggest, feature the latest cutting

edge sporting concepts in equipment and apparel. An international panel of sports experts

adjudicates the submissions and will decide on this year’s winners at the end of November.

To view a video submitted with the 360 Ball presentation and the 300 concepts bidding for

recognition go too

ball on the left side of the screen, otherwise go to the link underneath that will take you

straight to 360 Ball). To show your support for this South African invention click LIKE

http://www.ispo-brandnew.com (click on hottest brands, and look for 360