It's been years since the sport has seen a footer as amazin as Andre de Villiers.  Andre is a freak of nature.  He's doing things on the water that no one ever thought possible.  They've had to add new rules to the books for tricks that Andre created.  The question is, will they ever be able to keep up with him.

Andre joined our team in July of 2007 after a long relationship with Jobe.  He needed a platform to show off his skiing and we were more than happy to give it to him.  So look for many cool videos from BFC that include the athleticism of Andre de Villiers.

  Below are a few links to some of the videos already on our site featuring Andre:

Andre De Villiers "Goin Too Fast"

Andre De Villiers "Get Religion"

Andre De Villiers "Rockstar"

 

 

 

Andre is sponsored by

Heinrich has been competing on the International stage since he was 9 years old. He became the youngest skier to invert jump in a tournament at the age of 10.   He also became the youngest skier ever to land an inverted jump at a World Championships and when he came back from that Worlds he knew he could win the whole thing and started setting pending world records in slalom of which he has had 13 applications submitted and we are still awaiting for the outcome of the last 3.  He also broke the 8000 point barrier in 2003 making him one of only around 10 skiers in the world to achieve this and only the second ever junior.   The next year he broke the 9000 barrier and had a couple of applications for the world junior trick record submitted.   He also had a record application in that would have equalled the open world trick record 9550.

All this and he had just turned 12 years old!  

In 2005, the Junior World Championships where in South Africa.  Heinrich won the overall title by 500 points and in the process set 2 pending world slalom and one world trick record and also set a new South African junior jump record.   He now holds all 3 South African junior records: slalom 18.4, tricks 9350 and jump 22.2m. 

Heinrich is ranked number 1 in the world for Junior and number 7 for the Open Division.   This ranking at only the age of 13 is totally amazing.  He is set to become the youngest barefooter ever to compete in the Open Pro division at the Elite World Games.

Most of Heinrich's success can be attributed to talent and coaching from his dad, Eugene Sam.  Eugene Sam has become known as one of the top barefoot coaches in the world.  Along with Heinrich, Eugene also trains Andre de Villiers, the current Tricks World record holder.  In Jan 2006, Keith St. Onge decided to visit Eugene for two weeks of intensive training in South Africa and during that stay ended up setting a new World Slalom record.  As more records are broken by South African skiers, Eugene will find himself being sought out by more of the top footers in the world for advice, motivation, and training ideas.

BarefootCentral.com, Eagle Sports, and Masterline USA are partnering together to sponsor Heinrich and Eugene, the first Father & Son duo to be co-sponsored.

Eugene will be working with us to provide coaching tips in our Coaches Corner section as well as keep up up-to-date on stories from South Africa and the European region.

Heinrich is sponsored by

Zane is sponsored by