Calling all South African Cubers

[Phlippieskezer]

I think Kian was referring to the fact that Antarctica is unlikely to have a competition in a while...

Ha! Derp; I feel stupid now. Thanks for that.

We are now at 11 members in our first week, but I would like that number to grow to around 20 to 30 members, that way at least ten cubers should show up. I cant spend so much cash for nobody to show. The members I have now are already nagging for a comp, so I might try a little "get together" soon. But I think I should stick to my plan being in January. For now it's just to keep this thread alive, as it's been the biggest help in finding cubers.

Just as a note: the group here in Vancouver generally meet at least once a month for a (totally casual) 'cube meet,' where we would go to a predetermined mall, hang out at the food court and bring out puzzles/timers and just hang out all day (usually ~12:00 - 17:00, of course having lunch there; it is a food court). Not a competitive atmosphere at all, just a time of hanging out and possibly sharing knowledge. Might be a consideration for you (doesn't have to be a mall, too). Not only does that mean you get to meet up somewhat frequently freely, but also get a bit of publicity as people around are wowed at your "amazing genius skills of hacking reality and solving the impossible." (And, of course, that way, it's even possible to recruit more...)

 

[DonnyStar]

Thanx phlippies

Since we're south african. I think an old fashioned boerewors braai would be a good way to introduce everyone. I live in a daycare, so if I can't find cubers, I'll make them. Lol

I'm sure that schools are also a good place to look. Every school holds such a variety of kids these days.

I'm sure that this site is hiding a few more in here somewhere. Your advise will be followed, and when it's closer to comp time, I'll have many questions to ask you.

 

[DonnyStar]

Hellooo
Just making this thread visible to potential South Africans. Oh! and if any of you other guys are coming this way on holiday or work reasons... Give me a shout.

 

[TheAwesomeAlex]

I'm actually on vacation in South Africa and I was in Cape Town for 3 days. I am on safari right now.

 

[Bob]

The most difficult task in organizing a competition in South Africa is finding a delegate. Either somebody from South Africa has to travel to another competition (usually more than once) to see how a competition is ran and become trusted enough to become a delegate or a delegate has to travel to South Africa. Since South Africa is so far away from most delegates, that's an expensive trip for somebody to make.

 

[Tim Reynolds]

I think the best thing would be for you guys to hold a few unofficial competitions first, and identify someone who would make a good delegate. For any delegate to travel to South Africa would be expensive and time-consuming, as Bob says. There are 2 bad results that could come out of such a trip:
-Nobody steps up to take over as delegate and hold competitions in the future. The travelling WCA delegate runs the entire competition on their own, and then when they leave there's nobody with any experience.
-Somebody becomes a delegate, but then 6 months later the community falls apart and there aren't any more competitions because nobody cares

Either way, another delegate would have to make a trip to South Africa when you (or someone else) is ready to try again. If your community can organize itself, hold an unofficial competition or two, and identify a good leader, then it would be worth it for a delegate to travel down to South Africa. If not, then that probably means it wouldn't be worth it.

 

[DonnyStar]

I'm planning to attempt an unofficial comp in january 2013, and see it it goes from there. As far as an official comp, the easiest way would be to wait till an official dilagate comes here on vacation and take full advantage of that. Lol

We do have one south african who lives in Canada now. He a top ranked cuber and holds a lot of the african records. He has attended many comps and is likely to come back on holiday eventually.

We're just getting started, so for now I'll just focus on getting the unofficial comps off the ground, that would be the smartest start. If our community grows enough, then something good is bound to happen.

Thanks guys

 

[DonnyStar]

@ theAwesomeAlex
Cape town is a beautiful place. My home town. I could've shown you the good spots, unfortunately, I, like most other business oriented Africans, had to move to Johannesburg for better career oppotunities. If you're on safari I would have to guess that you're in the kruger national park. Very nice there. Its the only place in south africa that looks anything like what the rest of the world thinks south africa looks like. Let us know if you and your family come up to Johanessburg. Keep safe out there, those lions aren't the hand reared house cats that you guys throw pebbles at when the zookeeper isn't looking. These things here eat first and ask second. My mothers van was overturned by elephants, and my uncle was eaten by a crocodile in botswana.

 

[TheAwesomeAlex]

Right now I am in Zimbabwe at Victoria Falls. I'm going on a river cruise of the Chobe river. I will be in the Johannesburg airport for several hours waiting for my plane back home on thursday so we could maybe meet up there.

 

[DonnyStar]

Any more South Africans out there?

 

[stoic]

My parents live in Hermanus; they emigrated there about ten years ago from the UK. I was there at Xmas, but don't expect to be visiting again before Xmas 2013.

Regards and good luck to all in the South African cubing community...

 

[TristanViranyi]

HI!! My name is Tristan.

I live in Cape Town. It will still be so much easier to go to Johannesburg for comps instead of going overseas!!

I have never had a competition as a have not even been cubing for 2 months yet.

I Have a 33 Sec average and have been cubing for nearly two months.
My best average was 29 sec. My best single was 23 sec.
I practice for about 4 hours EVERY day.
My goal in 1 month is to be 20 sec average.
I use fridrich and all the 21 PLL's. In 1 months time i should know all the OLL's.

Hope to see you in Joburg if we get enough people!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[DonnyStar]

Hi Tristan

I invited you on facebook so that I can ad you to our Speedcube South Africa group.

We are having our first unofficial comp on the 8th of December in Johannessburg.
So far all the cubers I have found are from Joburg. Good to see another Cape Townian cuber out there.

Donny Hale

 

[miniwee]

Hi !!! My name is Zander

I live in centurion in South Africa

I've been looking for people that are also cubers and this is the first i hear of anyone...
I'm so glad to hear of you guys !!! I've been plainly solving the 3x3x3 and fisher cube for about 2 years now and started speedcubing about 2 weeks ago, i use the roux method and i am starting to gradually get faster my best time still sucks BIG TIME ( 1:08.56 ) and that was with just beginners f2l...
i hope to see someone that cubes in SA sometime!!

 

[DonnyStar]

Speedcube South Africa - Facebook Group

Hi all. If you are a South African cuber and would like to join our community you can find us at facebook.com/groups/speedcube.southafrica
We will be having our first unofficial competition in Johannesburg on the 8th of December 2012.

 

[StephenC]

How many people do we need to have to hold an official competition? I think that we needed around 10, although it might have been 15. Anyway, I think that we should ask if it is absolutely necessary to have had an official attend another competition, since that might be slightly difficult for us here in SA.

 

[Geert]

There have been competitions with less then 10 people ( example )
There are limits on the number of rounds you can have during the competition, for which the number of competitors is important.
The problem will, most likely, be finding a delegate. You could email the board, to see if they can help you organise an official competition.

 

[Crazycubemom]

I bet Mr Anders Larsson is gonna help this case, travelling and helping the competitions with his own pocket sorry if I'm wrong.

 

[Divisibleby0]

Hey guys,

I'm also in jhb and very new to speed cubing. I've been at it for about two weeks now so my best is only around 56 seconds. Always practicing and looking to better my time. My end goal is to be sub 30!! That's the dream anyway.

Donny, I looked you up on Facebook and can't find your profile. Have you changed your profile pic? Let me know so I can add you. Happy cubing people!

Shamir

 

[Patatsky]

Hi DonnyStar,

I registered here on Speedsolving so that my name can go on the list of South Africans.

I've been cubing for about 2 months now and my times are:
Fridrich (beginner's method) - 1:16 average
Petrus - 1:45 average
(Yes, my times are a little slow. I have a one-year old who's a bit of a handful.)
I'm in the process of learning Fridrich's F2L, but it's going slowly.

I'd be very interested in a local shop. Or some sort of group buy situation to save on shipping costs.

Oh, and would you please keep this thread active? I don't have a facebook, but if there are any developments or news, I'd really like to know.

See you guy around,
Jacques Blaauw