The junior Border angling Under 21 side bagged gold at the junior nationals in January, while the U16 team placed fourth overall, just 27 points behind the third place winners.
The sides are managed by Border greats Steven Rheeder, Lester Opperman, Hayden Bowles, Byron Muller, AJ de Beer and Jandre Van Rhyn.
The angler’s competed against the best in the country for team and individual points as well as for coveted spots in the junior Proteas angling side.
The U21 team fished for three days off the West Coast.
Given their natural synergy as a team and fast adaptation to the fishing conditions, the side swept the leader board ahead of their competitors with a final score of 954.33, placing them 97 points ahead of second place winners KwaZulu-Natal inland.
Four Border U21 anglers also garnered top 10 positions in the national rankings, with Kyle Busse claiming third place, followed by Cullen Opperman in fourth, Christian Jacoby in fifth and Thorn Masters in seventh.
Opperman and Masters will proceed to the Protea side.
It is Opperman’s third selection to the national side.
A thrilled Opperman said: “The most challenging part of the junior nationals was to be able to adapt to the West Coast. The sea is very calm and the formation you must look at is different.
“But the biggest key to my team’s success must go to our management and our guides. They played a phenomenal role in our success to win my first Nationals with the Border U21 team.
“No matter the challenges, my team came together and overcame them.
“With it being my last U21 nationals this was such an awesome way to finish as we fished so hard as a team and our goal was to bring home the gold medals and the trophy. It was so amazing to achieve the goal together.”
Masters said: “I’ve been trying to make the SA U21 side for two years and last year I was very close but I learnt from my mistakes this year.
“Narrowly missing my chance last year made me push harder than ever. It means a lot that my hard work has paid off and I can’t wait for next year.
“I really want to win nationals and internationals vs Namibia in December.”
Despite finishing fourth as a team, U16 angler Cameron Vreede, who is only 14 years old, was selected as reserve for the Proteas side
