Durban - It seems like South Africa is making history when it comes to hosting global events with the Northern Cape scooping the right to host the World Premier professional skateboarding showcase.
The world's best professional skateboarders will compete for the Maloof Money Cup in Kimberly, from 30 September until 2 October 2011.
The Maloof Money Cup, an annual event, has a wide scale broadcast appeal.
"This June, South Africa will host the FIFA World Cup, the most viewed sporting event in the world. Coming on the heels of this major event, South Africa was an ideal location to host the first-ever Maloof Money Cup world skateboarding championships," said Cup creator Joe Maloof.
The Northern Cape, delighted with the opportunity to become the first place outside the USA to host the event, is also hoping that the event inspires their youth to take up the extreme sport.
In a statement, the Northern Cape Tourism said: "Of particular importance is the youth development aspect that this premier skateboarding showcase offers. The sport offers a minimum barrier to entry."
Premier of the Northern Cape Hazel Jenkins said: "The skatepark and vert ramp the Maloofs are building for the contest will be donated to our community. This is a significant contribution that will encourage the development of our youth, by providing them with a healthy, affordable recreational activity."
While Western Province, KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng get a major share of tourists, the Northern Cape believe they too have much to offer tourists.
"Where else in the world can one experience desert tracking using traditional knowledge systems of the San people? Then we have De Aar which is one of the world's top paragliding spots," the statement said.
In 2009, De Aar, which boasts an exceptionally good lapse rate and wind gradient, successfully hosted the third leg of the Pre-XC World Paragliding Series.
It is said that Boesmansgat in the Northern Cape, is home to the deepest horizontal freshwater cave in the world - this is where inland diving records continue to be broken.
While no skateboarding champion has emerged yet from the Northern Cape, the province's Desiree Pansi is one of South Africa's top female pilots and has broken the country's paragliding records.
Pansi participates on a regular basis at both national and international levels.
The Northern Cape's extreme activities include: river rafting, 4x4 trails and adventure motorcycling.
