Ollies, flips and grinds on show at the Powerco Skate Park in Thames

Whether you prefer flips or grinds, make sure you pop an ollie. Come learn some new tricks and more at the grand opening of the Powerco Skate Park at Porritt Park this Saturday, 6 May, where pro skateboarders and a scooter rider from SOUF Skateboards, including NZ champ Lenard Tejada, will be putting on a demonstration and running a tips and tricks session.

The fun begins at 10am and goes until noon, when the skate park will re-open for general use.

Everyone is welcome to come.

The Thames Scouts are putting on a BBQ, there will be performances from Thames South School and Thames Youth Centre Hip Hop, as well as the skateboarding and scooter exhibition from SOUF.

"I am really looking forward to the official opening of the Powerco Thames Skate Park this weekend," says Thames Community Board Chair Diane Connors.

"It has been brilliant to see so many people down at Porritt Park using the new facility - guys, girls, young and not so young all sharing the space, encouraging one another and upskilling. It has been especially pleasing to see some of the original Skate Revolution Crew, who have been the drivers of this project for years, back in town and doing tricks on the park. I invite everyone down for the celebrations on Saturday morning."

Waati Ngamane of Ngati Maru will conduct an opening blessing and there will be some words from Diane Connors, Mary Hamilton of Active Thames 2018, a representative from the Thames Revolution Crew, and Lorraine Harding - Powerco's Sponsorship and Marketing Coordinator.

Powerco has contributed $125,000 towards the skate park and the Thames Indoor Sports Facility (now nearly complete on the grounds of Thames High School). The skate park has been officially named Powerco Skate Park in recognition of this generous donation.

Ms Harding said it was a great community project to be associated with.

“While Saturday marks the official opening of the facility, the intense interest in the skate park during the school holidays was outstanding,” she says. “We’re happy to be involved as naming sponsor and we’re sure the park will be an asset to Thames and the greater Coromandel region.”

Thames Revolution Crew is a group of local young people who began working with our Council for a replacement for the old skate park at Taipari Park (next to Centennial Pool) more than 10 years ago. This land is a historic urupa and wahi tapu site and, working with Ngati Maru, our Council has the eventual goal of removing the skate park and potentially the pool.

There will also be stalls from St John and Transition Town Thames to round out what promises to be a fun-filled, festive morning.

Tips and tricks session from SOUF

The SOUF Skateboards crew will put on a 30-minute demonstration at 11am and then afterwards they'll be providing a tips and tricks session to help budding future Olympic hopefuls. Yes, skating is now included in the 2020 Japan Olympics.

From SOUF Skateboards we're expecting:

Lenard Tejada, Cam King, Kobe Daniels, Brad Lakau, Lex Waipouri, Reace Hunt (scooter), and one more skater to be confirmed.

The crew will also have their own MC to identify the riders and call out the tricks during the demonstration.

We worked with skaters on the design of this family-friendly facility. It has room for future extension, including the potential for a pump track. It features a 1.5m high mini ramp that steps down to a 1.2m high mini ramp with flyout and rising quarter section. A low pyramid with ledge, kinked flat round rail and sculptural ‘nugget’ manual box are in the street section with a wide turnaround 0.95m high quarter pipe at the far end.

The skate park will complement the expanded playground area which includes a new toilet block, disabled access drinking fountain, and some new play equipment.

The Powerco Skate Park is the first of the Active Thames 2018 projects to be finished. The indoor sports facility at Thames High School is expected to be completed in June and will realise the Thames community's long-held ambition of a two-court facility for joint school-community use that will allow sports programmes to expand to meet demand.

The other component of Active Thames 2018 is a proposal for multi-sport clubrooms at Rhodes Park. It is programmed for the 2018/19 financial year as part of the 2015-25 Long Term Plan, so this one is still in its early planning stages.

For more on Active Thames 2018 see www.tcdc.govt.nz/thamessportsfacilities.

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