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| Tony Hawk |
His visit to Newcastle follows the success of the Australian Bowl-Riding Championships and Surfest, two Newcastle events secured by the NSW Government through Destination NSW.
NSW Premier Mike Baird said: “It is great to see Tony Hawk visiting one of the State's best major events cities. Newcastle hosts premier skating and surfing events and has also hosted major sporting events such as the AFC Asian Cup Football, British & Irish Lions Rugby Tour and Eastern University Games.
“Major events are a huge drawcard for visitors to Regional NSW. In the 12 months to September approximately 3.5 million people visited Newcastle on overnight and day trips, boosting the local economy by $744 million.
“I'm sure there are many aspiring professional skaters in Newcastle who will be spurred on to know one of their idols has dropped into their local skate bowl,” Mr Baird said.
The Australian Bowl Riding Championships recently hit Bar Beach with a collection of Australia's top riders on show. Celebrating its fourth year of bowlshredding there was a heightened excitement of the battle as thousands of spectators gathered for the competition on the 7th February, and were treated to a spectacular showing of international and local talent.
The all-inclusive contest welcomed skateboarders of all skill-level and ages to compete for the prize pool and the chance to win a wildcard entry into one of the largest professional concrete series in the world: VANS BOWL-A-RAMA Bondi. Local Novocastrians George Richards and John Bogaerts took out the 2015 Australian PRO Wildcard and 2015 Australian MASTER Wildcard which will see them compete in Bondi this week on Saturday, February 21st 2015.
It's not just Newcastle and Bondi that has great skate action. From Riverwood to Five Dock to Port Macquarie, there are dozens of skate-parks with steep bowls, ramps and rails popping up around the State.
New South Wales Skate Parks not to miss
There are dozens of skate-parks dotted around urban and regional New South Wales, but these are notable for having vertical bowls, along with their street skating features:
- Empire Park Skate Park, Bar Beach, Newcastle (120 mins north of Sydney) – is positioned in a dynamic location overlooking the surf breaks at Bar Beach. This brilliant three-year old facility is already a favourite destination of visiting pro skaters, and it's around the corner from Newcastle's Merewether Beach
- Monster Skate Park, Sydney Olympic Park – boasts a world-class vertical half-pipe, a midi-ramp with roll-ins and a spine ramp, plus there's an indoors section for rainy days and always plenty of cranking tunes
- Five Dock Skate Park – transformed in 2010 by local skateboard legend Mick Mulhall, who incorporated parts of the original 1970s venue into his design, and now a must-visit for pro skaters
- Galston Skate Park (60 min drive from Sydney) – offers plenty of banks, rails, stairs, “hubbas” and fun-boxes, but its centrepiece is a beautiful old-school bowl that starts at 6ft and rises to 9ft
- Riverwood Skate Park – has an 8ft vertical kidney bowl with fun tight transitions, a spine ramp and roll-over boxes
In its 11th year Vans BOWL-A-RAMA™ Bondi, will host the biggest professional concrete event in the southern hemisphere, and the biggest week of skateboarding infused cultural festivities in Australia.
Surfest celebrates their 30th anniversary which is currently underway and takes place from 6 – 22 February. A star studded line up of surfers have been secured for the event, headed by former ASP World Champion and current world number six Joel Parkinson who will compete in the Burton Automotive Pro at Merewether Beach.
For more information on Vans BOWL-A-RAMA™ Bondi please go to www.bowlarama.com.au
For more information on Surfest please go to www.surfest.com
For more information about Sydney and NSW please go to www.sydney.com or www.visitnsw.com
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