You can easily pick wee Thea at the flash new half ‘mil’ skate park in Pāpāmoa.

She might be wearing a tutu, looking like a little ballerina with grazes on her knees and elbows, a cheeky grin and with few words.

Thea’s a six-year-old free spirit from near Tirau. And three or four times a week Mum Jessica loads Thea, her skateboarding sibling Quinn and an overly-friendly young retriever called ‘Ollie’ into the Wanden family wagon for the 140km round-trip to Tauranga’s skate parks.

That’s the call of skateboarding apparently – more of a faith than a sport. So it’s a pilgrimage over the Kaimai Range.

And the tutu? Well, they maximise the trip, take in some dance classes after skateboarding. Thea comes dressed ready to go. And Ollie gets a romp on the beach at Pāpāmoa. Everyone happy.

But why has Tauranga become a destination of choice for skateboarders like the Wandens?

Quinn started it all. She woke up one morning, had an epiphany, wanted to be skateboarder.

“Okay, we’ll see how this goes,” says Jessica. “We got her a skateboard and she’s been going two years.”

But when you are a home-schooled, living on a lifestyle block on the fringe of Tirau, opportunities are limited for skateboarders.

So they trekked across the range to Sam’s Skate School in Tauranga – which offers free after-school and school holiday skateboarding lessons for kids and teenagers – where an impassioned schoolteacher Sam Robertson was helping kids like Quinn and Thea with their drop-ins, ollies and grinds.

Real-life experiences

“The biggest drawcard of skateboarding, and being home-schoolers, we look to get our kids to learn as much as possible through real life experiences.”

One of which is standing on a skateboard, perched on the brink, the steep edge of a skateboard bowl and ‘dropping in’ – face first towards that concrete. Character building.

“It’s just fun,” says Thea.

More fun than ballet?

“Yes!”

She followed Quinn into the sport and quickly caught up.

More fun than schoolwork?

“YES!”  

They enjoy the risk factor, the adrenalin rush, testing themselves, extending themselves.

“I like the satisfaction of doing a new trick, something scary, and getting comfortable with it,” says Quinn.

Jessica says skateboarding couldn’t be a better teacher of persistence for girls.

“To learn, you have to keep trying. You have to keep falling and getting back up and trying again. You can’t learn a new trick without a few falls.”

Quinn (left) started the Wanden family fascination for skateboarding and Thea caught the bug. Photo: John Borren.

Risk and reward

So risk and reward. Seems harsh but that’s what the kids do. They take a tumble, get up, fight back the tears and the embarrassment, dust themselves off and get back on the board.

“I’ve fallen many times,” says Quinn.

And she’s never once considered quitting.

Thea, aged six, has attitude and courage. She’s as tough as…well ‘young’ boots. A helmet is her only concession to safety.

“Knee and elbow pads are uncomfortable.”

And maybe a little uncool?

“Yes.”

It might take a minor ding to change her mind.

Jessica suggests the girls are probably a bit more reserved than boys at the skate park.

“Boys go for it, whereas girls calculate everything about giving themselves the best chance of staying on the board.

“They think it through more.”

Fortunately, touch wood, no nasty accidents. Yet! Only elder sister, 12-year-old Lexi, has broken a bone. And she’s not even a skateboarder. Neither are the parents, and they’re reminded of the fact.

“I start giving them advice, try doing it this way and they say what do you know? Show us how to do it.

“Yeah right!”

We can laugh.

Education on skateboards

Skateboarding will soon take them all the way beyond Pāpāmoa to Auckland…and Girls Skate New Zealand. Their blurb tell us they are a not-for-profit organisation empowering girls through skateboarding, boosting confidence, mental toughness and physical health girls.  

Girls Skate also works to break down social intimidation and gender discrimination. It’s an education on skateboards.

“Thea and Quinn really grew there. They loved it. So we are going back.”

Skateboarding is going to become an Olympic sport, so Beyond Girls Skate they just might be Tirau first skateboard Olympians.

“Maybe,” says Quinn. “…maybe.”