Wellington City Council, International Skateboarder’s Union, Redhead or Dead Events, Skateboarding New Zealand and Miryoku Agency staged the New Zealand 2018 National Titles Park / Bowl Skateboarding Championships with BOWLZILLA Wellington in the Nation’s Capital.
SBNZ and ISU continued the New Zealand National Skateboarding Park / Bowl competition series. It all culminated on the weekend with BOWLZILLA Wellington. Wellington once again was the greatest stage for skateboarders in the nation.
Wellington always surprises – ALWAYS! Terrible weather all week. The day started overcast and freezing. It felt like there was something changing as the day moved forward though. You could see it in the skating and hear it in the crowd. The weather changed for the better and the whole event just went crazy. Then during all of that, completely out of the blue in the middle of the comp, Lydia and Daroll Clark from Yeah Gnar came up and gave cash to equalise the prize purse with the Women's division to the Open division. They contributed $5350 and asked for nothing in return. They just want to support women and see them equitably treated. What was already an amazing day in New Zealand skate history just became the best. Not only the first but a very large Equality in Skateboarding moment in New Zealand. It would be safe to say today was the proudest day in New Zealand skateboarding history.
The National Champions crowned were; Women - Krysta Ashwell, 16 & Under - Soul Kropelnicki, Masters – Ramon Thackwell, Open – Shaun Boucher. With Competition title going to Australian RJ Barbaro, for the third year straight. R.J and Shaun were both successful in maintaining their titles from 2016 and 2017, what an amazing feat that is. With New Zealand having the representative competitor for all of Oceania at last year’s World Championships; Bowman Hansen, there is a lot of interest and excitement building in the local talent. BOWLZILLA Wellington as the National Titles is the greatest platform for local riders and their stepping stone onto the world stage. The skating at this year’s event shows there is a bright future ahead for New Zealand skateboarding.
BOWLZILLA Wellington 2018 placings:
OPEN
1 R.J Barbaro
2 Shaun Boucher
3 Bowman Hansen
4 George Richards
5 Josh Wilson
6 Mike Bancroft
7 Chris Wood
8 Aaron Kingi
9 Sockz
10 Orson Reynolds
11 Brodie Lee Jarrett
12 Diego Casal
13 Dereck DeSouza
14 Chris Curren
15 Felix Macilfe
16 Rob Ayton
17 James Huntley
18 Levi Jardine
19 Dallas Marshall
20 Patrick Maessen
21 Jordan Roderique
22 Scott Wilkinson
23 Ken Maka Pakoariki
24 Luke Hayward
25 Tyler Holdsworth
MASTERS
1 Lester Kasai
2 Ramon Thackwell – New Zealand National Park skating Champion
3 Sean Ritchie
4 Shaka Wereth
5 Nolan Ewart
6 Dave Crabb
7 Adam Wheelden
8 Robin Oneleg
WOMEN
1 Krysta Ashwell – New Zealand National Park skating Champion
2 Tanja Swanepoel
3 Rhya Henare
4 Oksana Lines
5 Gala Baumfield
6 Poppy-Joe Garratt
7 Kiri Binnersley
8 Chrystal Doller
9 Sharee Dowdall
16 & UNDER
1 Soul Kropelnicki – New Zealand National Park skating Champion
2 Louis Newman
3 Rimus Henare
4 Rico Henare
5 Niwa Shewry
6 Riley Jackson
7 Mitch Jordan
8 Jude Albiston
9 Alex Moreu
10 Jackson Wilcox
There was NZ$8,000 in prize money and that ended up growing to NZ$13,350 distributed amongst the Women, Open and Masters divisions. There was also $2000 worth of prizes, donated by; Fusion Surf / Skate, Vans, Manual Magazine and Dickies, for the 16 & Under and Women’s divisions, which were distributed amongst all the competitors.
“There could be no better place for the National Titles of Park skating in New Zealand than the Nation’s Capital – Wellington. The partnership between BOWLZILLA Wellington, SBNZ, ISU, Miryoku Agency, Redhead Or Dead Events and all the sponsors; Irrom, Spitfire, Fusion, The Cambridge Hotel, Manual Magazine and Manky Chops is doing great things for New Zealand skateboarding. The talent we have coming up and the amazing riders we already have on the world stage backs up what we are doing at SBNZ. There are great times ahead for New Zealand skateboarders and we look forward to assisting them every way we can” Jesse Peters – Director, SBNZ.
It was another great year for BOWLZILLA Wellington with the festival hosting; ARTZILLA – art show, which was produced by Manky Chops, Fusion Surf / Skate – welcome party, the competition and wrapping it up with the Dive In - party at Basque supported by Tuatara. Every single part of it lived up to Wellington’s reputation as the best place to be in New Zealand.
"Three years in and we’re just getting started. Every year we see the local talent get better and more skaters drop in. The level of skating and interest in them is growing noticeably each year. There are some exciting times ahead for New Zealand skating that we are looking forward to sharing with everyone but right now we just want to celebrate the epicness that was BOWLZILLA Wellington 2018 and thank all of our supporters, sponsors, fans, the skaters and especially Yeah Gnar!” Chad Ford – Director, BOWLZILLA Wellington.
Without the very generous support of the sponsors none of BOWLZILLA Wellington would be possible, so a huge thank you goes to; Wellington City Council, Skateboarding New Zealand, International Skateboarder’s Union, Fusion Surf/Skate, Manual Magazine, Manky Chops, Yeah Gnar, Powerhaus European Vehicle Workshop, Basque, The Cambridge Hotel, the generous prizes from Dickies and Vans and the organisational skills of Redhead or Dead Events and Miryoku Agency. With ongoing support like this the opportunities for New Zealand skating are awesome.
We would like to acknowledge and thank all of the international attending skaters for their support of the event and skateboarding in New Zealand; Louis Newman - Australia (16 & Under), Oksana Lines - USA (Women), Lester Kasai - USA (Masters), Sean Goff - UK (Masters), George Richards – Australia (Open), Brodie Jarret – Australia (Open) Sox – Wales 9 Open), Rob Ayton – UK (Open) and of course R.J. Barbaro – Australia (Open).
