YOUNG skateboarding top gun Kieran Woolley has perhaps managed the ultimate trick by taking out a national title.
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Minnamurra resident Kieran, 13, competed in the recent Australian Bowl-Riding Championships, winning the title of Junior Australian Bowl-Riding Champion.
The Australian Bowl-Riding Championships took place on February 25-26 in Newcastle.
The annual Australian Bowl-Riding Championships (ABC) is touted as the first true Nationals skateboard competition for any discipline within skateboarding in Australia.
This all-inclusive Australian event welcomes skateboarders from every skill level and age to sign up and compete for cash and prizes.
It also attracts international competitors.
Kieran’s father Mark said that bowl riding is “probably the most competitive section of skateboarding in Australia at the moment”.
“There are a lot of comps out there,” Mr Woolley said.
“Kieran was second in the ABC juniors division, but the guy who finished first was Brazilian and the title goes to the highest-placed Australian.”
The Corpus Christi Catholic High School, Oak Flats student also competed in the prestigious Bowl-A-Rama, one of the world’s largest professional concrete skate events the weekend prior to the Newcastle event.
Kieran finished eighth there.
“Bowl-A-Rama was a step up… He’s on a bit of a roll at the moment,” his father said.
Kieran has enjoyed considerable success in recent years.
He won the NSW state finals of the Australian Skateboarding League last January.
This qualified Kieran for the invite-only Australian Skateboarding League national final, which took place in Melbourne last March.
Kieran, competing in the 12-and-under division, qualified first through the heats and went on to skate a near-perfect final to take out the win.
He also visited the US in 2016, competing in events such as the Vans Park Series in Huntington Beach, California.
There are also plans for Kieran to return to the US for further competitions later this year.
Mr Woolley said his son had been skateboarding since the age of four or five.
“He’s very dedicated and has done a lot of work.
“He puts in the hours.”
Kieran was also accepted into the Illawarra Academy of Sport’s LoneStar Scholarship Program.
This is designed to support the developmental needs of the region’s young talented athletes by providing industry leading high performance sport development programs.
The LSP is for athletes who compete in the various sports, individual or team, that the IAS currently do not provide a Sports Program for.
