Jami-Lee van den Berg, 16, is sweet and gentle when talking to me but I suspect I am not getting the full picture.
When she has a Fenn paddle in her hands, the lioness comes out.
SA K1 sprint canoe gold medals do not come out of lucky packets. When you are competing against young KwaZulu-Natal opposition who come from the land of Oscar Chalupski, you had better have some bite if you want to win. And Jami-Lee does.
Her SA medal collection is growing at a rapid rate.
Recently having returned from the SA sprint championships at the Roodeplaat Dam in Pretoria, Jami-Lee has just added Gold K1 1,000m, Silver K2, Gold K1,500m, and Bronze K1 200m for 2025.
The Clarendon High pupil loves history and tends towards a B aggregate, so school work is not left hanging for sport.
The day she joined Clarendon, paddling coach Kelvin Herman spoke about his two daughters who were paddlers.
Forthright Jami-Lee knew she was in the right place and emailed Herman asking him to be her coach.
Originally having started at Lilyfontein Primary, our young champion has been paddling since the age of eight on the Kwelerha River.
Mom Megan and dad Sean are both of athletic build and their genes have carried well.
Siblings Dominique, 15, and Kyle, eight, are also sporty.
Living just behind the dunes at Queensberry Bay, the family is also heavily surfing influenced, riding both 9.0 longboards and shortboards.
Little brother Kyle is an energiser bunny and, freshly returned from a rugby match when I visited, was eating up a storm and angling towards the couch. A tired child is a good child.
Dominique said: “Jami-Lee plays the older sister role well. She is intense, loving, calm, she helps me when I need help and she is protective.”
Dominique did add there might be some sibling rivalry and competition, which raised a chuckle.
Jami-Lee has big goals, with 2028 marking the LA Olympics. She will be 18 then and her current trajectory looks more than reliable.
Paddling a Carbonology K1 canoe from Gqeberha, she is aiming at Junior World Championships, the Olympics Hopefuls, and then LA.
She has a history of SA titles across her age divisions, sprints, K1, K2 and marathon finals.
Her likely line of progress looks like she may specialise in sprints. She keeps good company, the Malherbe family, the Fenn family, the Burkett family and the Border canoe club.
The brains trust of the local canoe fraternity is world class, from the likes of the Woods family, Beth Burton, down to junior champions and too many gold medals to mention across the entire club.
The pedigree of little old Buffalo City in the paddling world is stupendous.
If sports betting is your game, you might want to put money on this young teen.
Jami-Lee is thoughtful, motivated and driven. A humble young person, she also plays hockey and enjoys school team sport.
She enjoys the support of mom and dad and both of her siblings. She has a quiet confidence about her and was unable to identify any particular fears when I interviewed her.
Big dreams, goals and action can tend to do that. They drown fear out.
I do not think that green and gold blazer is too far off for our epic young paddler. It will be a proud moment for the Van den Berg family, Clarendon, Buffalo City Canoe Club and SA.
We have a fine ambassador in the making.
Weekender
AT THE BEACH | With her SA medal collection growing, Jami-Lee, 16, has big goals
Teen paddler shines at national sprint champs
Image: SUPPLIED
Jami-Lee van den Berg, 16, is sweet and gentle when talking to me but I suspect I am not getting the full picture.
When she has a Fenn paddle in her hands, the lioness comes out.
SA K1 sprint canoe gold medals do not come out of lucky packets. When you are competing against young KwaZulu-Natal opposition who come from the land of Oscar Chalupski, you had better have some bite if you want to win. And Jami-Lee does.
Her SA medal collection is growing at a rapid rate.
Recently having returned from the SA sprint championships at the Roodeplaat Dam in Pretoria, Jami-Lee has just added Gold K1 1,000m, Silver K2, Gold K1,500m, and Bronze K1 200m for 2025.
The Clarendon High pupil loves history and tends towards a B aggregate, so school work is not left hanging for sport.
The day she joined Clarendon, paddling coach Kelvin Herman spoke about his two daughters who were paddlers.
Forthright Jami-Lee knew she was in the right place and emailed Herman asking him to be her coach.
Originally having started at Lilyfontein Primary, our young champion has been paddling since the age of eight on the Kwelerha River.
Mom Megan and dad Sean are both of athletic build and their genes have carried well.
Siblings Dominique, 15, and Kyle, eight, are also sporty.
Living just behind the dunes at Queensberry Bay, the family is also heavily surfing influenced, riding both 9.0 longboards and shortboards.
Little brother Kyle is an energiser bunny and, freshly returned from a rugby match when I visited, was eating up a storm and angling towards the couch. A tired child is a good child.
Dominique said: “Jami-Lee plays the older sister role well. She is intense, loving, calm, she helps me when I need help and she is protective.”
Dominique did add there might be some sibling rivalry and competition, which raised a chuckle.
Jami-Lee has big goals, with 2028 marking the LA Olympics. She will be 18 then and her current trajectory looks more than reliable.
Paddling a Carbonology K1 canoe from Gqeberha, she is aiming at Junior World Championships, the Olympics Hopefuls, and then LA.
She has a history of SA titles across her age divisions, sprints, K1, K2 and marathon finals.
Her likely line of progress looks like she may specialise in sprints. She keeps good company, the Malherbe family, the Fenn family, the Burkett family and the Border canoe club.
The brains trust of the local canoe fraternity is world class, from the likes of the Woods family, Beth Burton, down to junior champions and too many gold medals to mention across the entire club.
The pedigree of little old Buffalo City in the paddling world is stupendous.
If sports betting is your game, you might want to put money on this young teen.
Jami-Lee is thoughtful, motivated and driven. A humble young person, she also plays hockey and enjoys school team sport.
She enjoys the support of mom and dad and both of her siblings. She has a quiet confidence about her and was unable to identify any particular fears when I interviewed her.
Big dreams, goals and action can tend to do that. They drown fear out.
I do not think that green and gold blazer is too far off for our epic young paddler. It will be a proud moment for the Van den Berg family, Clarendon, Buffalo City Canoe Club and SA.
We have a fine ambassador in the making.
Weekender
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