Membership will benefit athletes and players in Obstacle Course Racing                

South Africa, Gauteng, Johannesburg, 13 July 2017 - When a new sport turns into the country’s fastest growing sport, as Obstacle Course Racing (OCR) is doing, a well-organised, non-profit membership organisation is required to serve as a platform to connect its members, race organisers, training facilities, sports brands and interested parties, to grow the sport professionally to compete on the international circuit.

Obstacle Course Racing is not a sport where athletes can hone their skills on a field or on the road. Building obstacles requires professional expertise, fists full of money, labour, land, large machinery, building materials, and time, so it makes sense to connect the dots and have a well-managed over-arching organisation that formalises the sport, thus creating benefits for members, socially and competitively, for athletes locally and worldwide.    

Non-profit organisation, SA OCR aims to do just this, significantly furthering the sport of Obstacle Course Racing in South Africa, and has all the major players, events and athletes behind it. Amongst many benefits, a welcome one is that SA OCR membership offers athletes significant discounts at most of the large races and training facilities in South Africa. Says SA OCR Founder, Alec Avierinos, “We have received overwhelming support from the major race brands and our OCR training facilities in South Africa. Memberships sales have been received with open arms by most our top SA OCR athletes, with them purchasing memberships the moment sales opened.

” Thomas van Tonder, 2016 SA OCR Elite Champion and currently ranked no. 1 in South Africa "I support SA OCR's membership because, as a new sport we need to unite and the membership gives us a good platform to be able to do that. Not only for athletes but for races and vendors as well". “With major race owners onboard, SA OCR is already well on its way to performing the duties it was set up for –  to benefit athletes to grow the sport socially and professionally, says Fritz Pienaar, the Warrior Race, the largest OCR Race Series in South Africa, “we welcome SA OCR's goals and objectives to further the sport of OCR in SA.

Warrior will reward SA OCR members with one free entry for every 4 races entered, to reward consistent participation. We like that SA OCR provides our top athletes with assistance internationally at the OCR World Championships.”  This couldn’t have come at a better time with OCR World Champs taking place in October in Canada. Our large events are on par with the toughest events internationally and our elite athletes perform as competitively on these courses. With more media coverage, and more sponsors, South African OCR could be a leading OCR nation.

SA athletes and international visitors to SA all agree that SA event obstacles are more difficult, thanks to SA’s top course-builder, Jonathan Hart, but the terrain and carrying segments are slightly easier. It is common knowledge that none of South Africa’s OCR Elites can afford to take on OCR as a profession and require day jobs for financial support. Membership to SA OCR will go a long way to enable the organisation to offer some assistance to South Africa’s 20 member-strong team, which includes six Elites, Thomas van Tonder, Claude Eksteen and Louis Smit, Hanneke Dannhauser, Trish Bahlmann and Sabrina Daolio.     

Greg Avierinos, currently ranked 4th in South Africa agrees, saying "I think this is an awesome initiative from SA OCR to help unite OCR in South Africa as well as provide a platform that helps make racing cheaper, and travelling overseas a possibility. Awesome to see all the race and venue owners that have stepped in to support." Max Cluer, Jeep Team Owner has Thomas van Tonder as his top OCR athlete, says, “Really cool to see SA OCR looking after the interest of the athletes with their new Membership initiative, they really understand the importance of a strong proactive community where everyone benefits. Other federations and organisations can certainly learn from them.” SA OCR has also introduced myTribez, an app allowing members to introduce the benefits of the SA OCR organisation to friends, family and other OCR non-members.

There are excellent benefits associated to this such as earning extra income to assist members’ fundraising efforts for OCR World Champs in Canada.  "I think the introduction of the new SA OCR membership is a great idea. Not only will it be a means to support fellow athletes but it will serve as a platform to connect participants, race organisers and training facilities, and in doing so, grow the sport of obstacle course racing in South Africa. I'm really excited to see where this awesome sport is going in our country!” says Dominique D’Oliveira – 2016 Top 5 SA OCR Athlete, and currently ranked 1st in South Africa.  

"It’s great to see SA OCR stepping forward as the voice of the sport in SA. As a premier event, The Beast is proud to be associated and endorsed by SA OCR and looks forward to offering all members discounted entry rates as well as other great specials. With OCR enjoying a global push and widely-recognised, SA OCR provides the athletes with a great platform in South Africa.

The Beast is fully behind SA OCR and wishes their team the very best," says Rob Walker - The Beast    If you are not an SA OCR member - join nowwww.saocr.co.za

Editors Notes

Obstacle Course Races (OCR) vary in size, impact, and purpose but they all involve sharing a passion and a love for the sport and the great outdoors. This website is dedicated to promoting locally produced OCR races, gear, athletes and training facilities all over South Africa. We hope that you will enjoy the information and reviews as much as we enjoy producing them.SA OCR is a non-profit organisation committed to aiding the growth of the sport of Obstacle Course Racing in South Africa. With South Africa’s first interactive OCR calendar, it’s now even easier for racers and race organisers to plan events and race schedules. Our goal is to cover obstacle course races, put gear to the test (and provide you with reviews of the gear) and find the best training tips and techniques to help you conquer any obstacle course. Our motto: Keeping you dirty, keeping you happy! 

Photo Credit: BeSnapped

Written and distributed on behalf of Max Cluer Sports Marketing by Hot Salsa Media.

For queries and images, contact - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. / 084 486 2136 For SA OCR queries – contact Alec Avierinos or Greg Avierinos on This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.