“It will be the first time in New Zealand the street and park nationals have been held at the same time in one venue and is a credit to the new skatepark facility funded by Trust Tairāwhiti.”
Trust Tairawhiti communities general manager Audine Grace-Kutia welcomed the news.
“It's exciting that Tairāwhiti has been selected to host the national skateboarding champs and that our communities will be able to watch an event of this calibre in their own backyard.
“Having a world-class facility means the region can host events that not only provide great opportunities for our locals, but also attract visitors from all over Aotearoa and lead to economic benefits.
“Trust Tairāwhiti contributed over $2.88 million towards the skatepark redevelopment and pump track as part of its commitment to investing in community facilities.”
Skateboarding NZ president Chris Curran said the redeveloped skatepark, would provide New Zealand with the closest thing to an Olympic-quality venue.
“Gisborne's investment into establishing quality facilities has opened up somewhere we can use to put on these kinds of events.”
Mr Curran said about 15 of the nation's top skateboarders would take part in the Olympic development camp before then taking part in the national championship event.
That would involve a day of qualification skates and another day of finals competition.
“It will be a park event and a street event. They are the two disciplines that exist at the Olympics. So, it's very much aligned to how the Olympic competition is held and these facilities are probably the closet facilities to an Olympic facility that New Zealand has.
“From Skateboarding NZ's point of view it's brilliant to see a trust like Trust Tairawhiti and TAST being able to work with the council to provide outcomes for rangatahi in the area.”
The inclusion of the sport in the Olympics had opened it up globally to the youth market.
“It's awesome to see our regions being able to put themselves on the map and getting involved in high-profile events.”
