January 1, 2020

Brandon Valjalo is on the board!

If you follow the street skateboarding scene in SA (and around the world) you will be familiar with the work of Brandon Valjalo – three-time SA skateboarding champion, two-time African champion, currently ranked number one in SA and Africa, and 57 in the world.

“The things this guy can do on (and sometimes off) a skateboard will leave you gasping for breath!” says CN&CO’s Carel Nolte. “I’ll let these Instagram posts speak for me…”

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A post shared by Brandon Valjalo (@brands_valjalo) on

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Today’s activities

A post shared by Brandon Valjalo (@brands_valjalo) on

One of Brandon’s sponsors is our partner, EasyEquities, where Carel also wears a hat as chief marketing officer.

“We recognise Brandon’s talent, passion, focus and hard work, which are values that we hold both at CN&CO and EasyEquities,” says Carel. “He is the perfect embodiment of our motto that 1+1=22 or more.”

Skateboarding was recently included as an Olympic sport, and Brandon is confident he will qualify for the upcoming games in Tokyo in 2021.

“I qualified for the 2020 games,” he says, “but a lot can happen in a year in skateboarding. The administrators of the sport have decided to run re-qualifying rounds now that the games have been pushed out to 2021.”

As a professional skateboarder, Brandon practises between seven and eight hours a day.

“Most days I will practice a competition routine over and over until it’s ingrained in my body and my mind,” he says, “although some days I admit I will spend a few hours playing – so, skating for the joy of it.”

Brandon recently qualified for the FISE World Series, an international extreme sports event that takes place every year in different venues.

“This year the competition is being held online because of Covid-19,” explains Brandon, who came fifth in the top eight in the skateboard category. (Other categories include BMX freestyle and flatland, mountain bike slopestyle, skateboard, roller freestyle, wakeboard and parkour.)

Contestants have been asked to make a one-minute video of themselves in action. These videos have been uploaded here and the public is invited to vote for their favourite performance.

“We know we will be voting for Brandon because he always delivers world-class skating – and we appeal to everyone in our networks to check out his video vote for him, too,” says Carel.

Catch Brandon in action here, and follow the prompts to vote for his performance.

Check out more videos of Brandon in action:

Listen to Brandon in conversation with sports journalist Dylan Rogers.

EasyEquities is just one of several sponsors who help Brandon to retain his professional status as a skateboarder. The others are PEG Skateboards, Volcom (clothing), Red Bull, Nixon (accessories), Bounce INC, Diamond Supply (hardware), Mawu Eyewear and Xii Skate (distribution)

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