BOWLZILLA Gold Coast 2023 Highlights

Beautiful one day, ripping the next. The BOWLZILLA Gold Coast highlights clip is here to warm up the southern winter with a scorching summer recap – watch, enjoy and GO SKATE.

Higher, faster, longer, funner. Competitions can push skaters to challenge themselves and risk that little bit more. The best of it is when they’re pushing their mate in the next run to do better than they just did. Yeah, people won but that wasn’t ever the point. Nothing and no one was left behind this year and everyone celebrated together at the end. BOWLZILLA Gold Coast 2023 was a uniform free zone of rad times and ripping skating.

The Gold Coast skate scene is massive and growing with so many rad spots and generations of shredders keeping the torch lit it is no wonder that it is being called the skate mecca of Australia. Everyone’s welcome to come and grind the epic concrete and share in the stoke of it all.

It’s the community that makes BOWLZILLA Gold Coast happen and as rad as it is. Without their support it just isn’t possible to have festivals like these. The week is really a celebration of how epic they all are. Watch the shredding in the 16 & Unders, Masters, Yeah Girl Women and Opens and you'll see the next step that Australian skating took in 2023.

Sponsors and partners like; Dickies, Santa Cruz, Independent, Kangol, Yeah Girl, Gold Coast Skateboard Coaching, Australian Skateboarding Federation, Truckstop, Fuel TV, Girl’s Skate Gold Coast, Etnies, Rattlesnake Motel, Gold Coast City Council and Tourism & Events Queensland made sure everyone got thanked properly.

Massive shout outs go to all the friends, family, fans, media, sponsors, supporters, community, crew, and skaters for what was truly one of the best years ever for BOWLZILLA Gold Coast.

BOWLZILLA Wellington 2023 Highlights

BOWLZILLA Wellington brought the heat this summer for the National Bowl Skating Championships. As

winter sets in in the southern hemisphere this clip will get everyone all fired up again. After the last few

years of weather and lockdowns it was the celebration everyone wanted and needed – watch, enjoy and

GO SKATE.

The best skate comps are just excuses to get the tribe together for a week of good times and ripping sessions. Wellington is the perfect city for an event like BOWLZILLA where the community is the focus. The week is full of free learn to ride clinics, street jams, parties, art shows, barbecues, free jams and the excuse of the National Bowl Skating Championships.

Many were not able to attend BOWLZILLA Wellington at the last minute because of a cyclone hitting the North Island. Everyone in attendance went above and beyond to make it another legendary year though, but more importantly, celebrate for those in our community who could not.

Having the support year in year out from Wellington City Council has ensured not only that BOWLZILLA

Wellington is the largest skate gathering in the country every year but that Wellington is also home to the most thriving skate scene because of the We Skate Poneke initiative. The BOWLZILLA Wellington week is growing and becoming more representative of the whole colourful community and the best is yet to come.

The support that goes into festivals like these are so important and everyone in attendance: fans, staff, friends, family and the competitors all step it up a little bit more to show their appreciation. Watch the ripping skating in the Hot Wheels 16 & Unders, Masters, Women and Opens and you'll see the future really looks bright for New Zealand skating.

Sponsors and partners like The Cambridge Hotel that housed all the crew and competitors and all the other sponsors combined; Radioactive.FM, Monster, Hot Wheels, Kangol, Santa Cruz, Independent, Dickies, Manual Magazine, Powerhaus Automotive, Manky Chops, Wellington Skateboarding Association and Skateboarding.NZ were bloody awesome.

The BOWLZILLA Wellington Champions for 2023 are; Hot Wheels Skate 16 & Unders: Monty Graham, Masters: Ramon Thackwell, Women: Yeva Butler and Open: Shaun Boucher, and a special congratulations to Yeva Butler for taking out the Hot Wheels Skate fingerboard competition as well, she’s going to need extra baggage allowance to get home.

A huge THANKS goes out to all the friends, family, fans, media, sponsors, supporters, community, crew, and skaters for what was truly one of the best years ever for BOWLZILLA Wellington.

BOWLZILLA Gold Coast Turned the Tide

BOWLZILLA Gold Coast was postponed a week so friends and family could put their houses back together after the flooding. Beautiful Gold Coast came through to make sure their reunion celebrations were epic.

After the torrential rain and flooding of the weeks before, the water rolled back and everyone had a fantastic week of celebrating in the epicentre of Australian skateboarding; the Gold Coast. With Yeah Girl putting on a free women’s learn to ride clinic and a skate zine workshop, the debut of SALKZILLA, the ASF National Park Skating Championships and the final celebration – Dive in at Beach Burrito Company, it was the week everyone needed.

Once again the sponsors stepped up to make sure the skating community knew how much they are appreciated. Yeah Girl ensured the women had equal prize money once again making it the biggest Equality in Skateboarding competition in Australia and Girl’s Skate Gold Coast raised the stoke with some extra prizes, Dickies had the Opens covered, Protec raised the stakes by rewarding the Best Slam of the whole competition which ended up having to be shared three ways (heal up everyone0, and Vans, Santa Cruz, Independent, Gold Coast Skateboard Coaching, Zipang Fine Dining, Fryzee Tattoo, Girl’s Skate Gold Coast, Fiik, Beach Burrito Company, FUEL TV, along with Major Events Gold Coast, City of Gold Coast and Tourism & Events Queensland helped out with the all-important structural support and prizes.

Everyone worked so hard to help friends and family recover during the postponement and that good energy flowed over into the entire week. It wouldn’t have felt right to run the week before while our friends and family were going through so much. What a difference a week makes though. The community was so happy to rally and get together at BOWLZILLA. The festival is an opportunity for friends and family to gather from near and far to catch up, show off their art, get creative, socialise and skate. It is a gathering point first and foremost and that was what supplied all the best moments of the week.

SALKZILLA was a new addition to the festivities this year and will grow into its own beast soon enough, it seems. Yeah Girl, Girl’s Skate Gold Coast, Gold Coast Skateboard Coaching, Zipang Fine Dining, Fryzee Tattoos and City of Gold Coast all got together and created a night of good times, free barbecues, loads of prizes and cash giveaways for random tricks and maximum stoke. The whole of the park was set alight by all our friends for hours. No stress, good times, nothing timed or serious, just get in there and get at it. The beast has been unleashed.  

As the world recovers and adapts more friends and family from far and wide will be able to make the journey to BOWLZILLA. The last couple of years have been a challenge but that has laid the groundwork for even more awesome times ahead with the BOWLZILLA community.

“You can crush us, you can bruise us, but you’ll have to answer to the fact that skating is our way of life and no matter what is thrown at us we will always rise above and find ways of gathering to celebrate the best of our skate community. Skateboarding won’t change the world but skateboarders sure are. The resilience and fortitude and goodwill that skating teaches us has been shared far and wide the last few weeks. Look at the many members of our family that have been working overtime to help water-soaked communities recover. They weren’t doing it with skateboards but skating lifted them and supported the support. BOWLZILLA Gold Coast was bloody fantastic again this year, one of the best ones yet but I’d rather you take the time to celebrate those in our community that worked far harder and for far nobler causes. They deserve the accolades. I just hope we did enough to show them all how truly grateful we were this week. Thank you, every single last one of you.”  Chad Ford; BOWLZILLA – Director.

Sponsors and prize givers for BOWLZILLA Gold Coast 2022 were: Gold Coast City Council, Tourism & Events Queensland, Yeah Girl, Dickies, Santa Cruz Skateboards, Independent Trucks, Vans, Fiik Electric Skateboards, Gold Coast Skateboard Coaching, Beach Burrito Company, FUEL TV, Protec, Girl’s Skate Gold Coast, Truck Stop Skate Shop, Fryzee Tattoos, Zipang Fine Dining and Australian Skateboarding Federation.

The final placings for BOWLZILLA Gold Coast 2022 are;

PROTEC BEST SLAM OF THE COMPETITION – special prizes by Protec

Indi Barnard

Jake Thatcher

Harvey Campbell

YEAH GIRL SKATEBOARDING – WOMEN – equal cash prize purse with Open, prizes donated by Girls Skate Gold Coast.

1 Ruby Trew – ASF National Park Skating Champion 2022

2 Arisa Trew

3 Heili Sirvio

4 Taniah Meyers

5 Anneka Lewis

6 Zahra Johns

7 Coco Crafter

8 Haylee Powell

9 Jada Ward

10 Mila Sirvio

11 Isla Lillie Bower

12 Tanisha Gardner

13 Tora Waldren

14 Mel NC

15 Chihiro Young

16 Marley Williams

17 Kayla Matthews

18 Olive Williams

19 Jazz Kennedy

16 & UNDER – prizes donated by Protec, Santa Cruz, Independent, Vans                                                                                

1 Louie Daiguchi – ASF Australian Park Skating Champion 2022

2 Caylen Goldsbrough

3 Taj Wolfenden

4 Hudson Walker

5 Cayden Hawker

6 Noa Barnes

7 Jack Lewis

8 Jacob Hanson           

9 Asher Watt

10 Oliver Macdonald

11 Kruz Lovett

12 Jackson Schulze

13 Kai Gould

14 Yo Wuoti

15 Samson Scott

16 Tasman Cahill

17 Zion Gallagher

18 Elijah Jack Smith

19 Zen Dickson

20 Zane Perez

21 Gustavo Baker Brandini

22 Noah DC de Campos          

MASTERS

1 Trev Ward – ASF Australian Park Skating Champion 2022

2 Chris Enwright

3 Marcio Godinho Brandini

4 Justin Leslight

5 Iain Watt

6 Deryck Murton

OPEN

1 Marley Rae

2 Jake Thatcher

3 Shaun Boucher

4 Jesse Noonan

5 Ash Wilcomes

6 Matthew Beer

7 Charlie Holland

8 Marcos Baker Brandini

9 Nixen Osborne

10 Logan Graff

11 Kai Farrelly

12 Barry Taniwha

13 Jorge Tichbon

14 Bryce Mckean

15 Levi Yeaman

16 James Stuurman

17 Dylan Phillips

SALKZILLA!!!

The first ever SALKZILLA is on tomorrow 15th March from 5-9PM at Salk Oval Skatepark; 2 Thrower Dr, Currumbin QLD 4223, Australia.

There’s gonna be some $10 and $20 notes being given our with some prizes for tricks and good vibes for all our rolling friends across the spectrum.

There’ll be a bit of a free barbecue and an over supply of good times. Everyone is welcome.

We want to thank all our sponsors and supporters for making this first year possible for us to share the stoke and have a bit of fun with all our friends and family.