BOWLZILLA Gold Coast Turned the Tide

BOWLZILLA Gold Coast was postponed a week so friends and family could put their houses back together after the flooding. Beautiful Gold Coast came through to make sure their reunion celebrations were epic.

After the torrential rain and flooding of the weeks before, the water rolled back and everyone had a fantastic week of celebrating in the epicentre of Australian skateboarding; the Gold Coast. With Yeah Girl putting on a free women’s learn to ride clinic and a skate zine workshop, the debut of SALKZILLA, the ASF National Park Skating Championships and the final celebration – Dive in at Beach Burrito Company, it was the week everyone needed.

Once again the sponsors stepped up to make sure the skating community knew how much they are appreciated. Yeah Girl ensured the women had equal prize money once again making it the biggest Equality in Skateboarding competition in Australia and Girl’s Skate Gold Coast raised the stoke with some extra prizes, Dickies had the Opens covered, Protec raised the stakes by rewarding the Best Slam of the whole competition which ended up having to be shared three ways (heal up everyone0, and Vans, Santa Cruz, Independent, Gold Coast Skateboard Coaching, Zipang Fine Dining, Fryzee Tattoo, Girl’s Skate Gold Coast, Fiik, Beach Burrito Company, FUEL TV, along with Major Events Gold Coast, City of Gold Coast and Tourism & Events Queensland helped out with the all-important structural support and prizes.

Everyone worked so hard to help friends and family recover during the postponement and that good energy flowed over into the entire week. It wouldn’t have felt right to run the week before while our friends and family were going through so much. What a difference a week makes though. The community was so happy to rally and get together at BOWLZILLA. The festival is an opportunity for friends and family to gather from near and far to catch up, show off their art, get creative, socialise and skate. It is a gathering point first and foremost and that was what supplied all the best moments of the week.

SALKZILLA was a new addition to the festivities this year and will grow into its own beast soon enough, it seems. Yeah Girl, Girl’s Skate Gold Coast, Gold Coast Skateboard Coaching, Zipang Fine Dining, Fryzee Tattoos and City of Gold Coast all got together and created a night of good times, free barbecues, loads of prizes and cash giveaways for random tricks and maximum stoke. The whole of the park was set alight by all our friends for hours. No stress, good times, nothing timed or serious, just get in there and get at it. The beast has been unleashed.  

As the world recovers and adapts more friends and family from far and wide will be able to make the journey to BOWLZILLA. The last couple of years have been a challenge but that has laid the groundwork for even more awesome times ahead with the BOWLZILLA community.

“You can crush us, you can bruise us, but you’ll have to answer to the fact that skating is our way of life and no matter what is thrown at us we will always rise above and find ways of gathering to celebrate the best of our skate community. Skateboarding won’t change the world but skateboarders sure are. The resilience and fortitude and goodwill that skating teaches us has been shared far and wide the last few weeks. Look at the many members of our family that have been working overtime to help water-soaked communities recover. They weren’t doing it with skateboards but skating lifted them and supported the support. BOWLZILLA Gold Coast was bloody fantastic again this year, one of the best ones yet but I’d rather you take the time to celebrate those in our community that worked far harder and for far nobler causes. They deserve the accolades. I just hope we did enough to show them all how truly grateful we were this week. Thank you, every single last one of you.”  Chad Ford; BOWLZILLA – Director.

Sponsors and prize givers for BOWLZILLA Gold Coast 2022 were: Gold Coast City Council, Tourism & Events Queensland, Yeah Girl, Dickies, Santa Cruz Skateboards, Independent Trucks, Vans, Fiik Electric Skateboards, Gold Coast Skateboard Coaching, Beach Burrito Company, FUEL TV, Protec, Girl’s Skate Gold Coast, Truck Stop Skate Shop, Fryzee Tattoos, Zipang Fine Dining and Australian Skateboarding Federation.

The final placings for BOWLZILLA Gold Coast 2022 are;

PROTEC BEST SLAM OF THE COMPETITION – special prizes by Protec

Indi Barnard

Jake Thatcher

Harvey Campbell

YEAH GIRL SKATEBOARDING – WOMEN – equal cash prize purse with Open, prizes donated by Girls Skate Gold Coast.

1 Ruby Trew – ASF National Park Skating Champion 2022

2 Arisa Trew

3 Heili Sirvio

4 Taniah Meyers

5 Anneka Lewis

6 Zahra Johns

7 Coco Crafter

8 Haylee Powell

9 Jada Ward

10 Mila Sirvio

11 Isla Lillie Bower

12 Tanisha Gardner

13 Tora Waldren

14 Mel NC

15 Chihiro Young

16 Marley Williams

17 Kayla Matthews

18 Olive Williams

19 Jazz Kennedy

16 & UNDER – prizes donated by Protec, Santa Cruz, Independent, Vans                                                                                

1 Louie Daiguchi – ASF Australian Park Skating Champion 2022

2 Caylen Goldsbrough

3 Taj Wolfenden

4 Hudson Walker

5 Cayden Hawker

6 Noa Barnes

7 Jack Lewis

8 Jacob Hanson           

9 Asher Watt

10 Oliver Macdonald

11 Kruz Lovett

12 Jackson Schulze

13 Kai Gould

14 Yo Wuoti

15 Samson Scott

16 Tasman Cahill

17 Zion Gallagher

18 Elijah Jack Smith

19 Zen Dickson

20 Zane Perez

21 Gustavo Baker Brandini

22 Noah DC de Campos          

MASTERS

1 Trev Ward – ASF Australian Park Skating Champion 2022

2 Chris Enwright

3 Marcio Godinho Brandini

4 Justin Leslight

5 Iain Watt

6 Deryck Murton

OPEN

1 Marley Rae

2 Jake Thatcher

3 Shaun Boucher

4 Jesse Noonan

5 Ash Wilcomes

6 Matthew Beer

7 Charlie Holland

8 Marcos Baker Brandini

9 Nixen Osborne

10 Logan Graff

11 Kai Farrelly

12 Barry Taniwha

13 Jorge Tichbon

14 Bryce Mckean

15 Levi Yeaman

16 James Stuurman

17 Dylan Phillips

SALKZILLA!!!

The first ever SALKZILLA is on tomorrow 15th March from 5-9PM at Salk Oval Skatepark; 2 Thrower Dr, Currumbin QLD 4223, Australia.

There’s gonna be some $10 and $20 notes being given our with some prizes for tricks and good vibes for all our rolling friends across the spectrum.

There’ll be a bit of a free barbecue and an over supply of good times. Everyone is welcome.

We want to thank all our sponsors and supporters for making this first year possible for us to share the stoke and have a bit of fun with all our friends and family.

BOWLZILLA Gold Coast carving out the future

BOWLZILLA Gold Coast is the biggest skateboard festival this year for Australia. Everyone is gathering on the Gold Coast for a week of celebrating our friend’s talents with art, music and skating. BOWLZILLA Gold Coast is the ASF National Park Skating Championships.

Five years in and BOWLZILLA Gold Coast is just getting started. This year’s festival is celebrating all the great talents of the skateboarding community with art, music, learn to ride clinics, food, parties and of course the competition.

BOWLZILLA Gold Coast is the ASF National Park Skating Championships which makes it the peak ASF park skating competition in Australia, with the highest prize money in Australia.

The Australian Skateboarding Federation competitions are run by members of the skateboarding community across Australia as a collaborative effort, and the ASF are stoked to have BOWLZILLA as the peak national park event for 2020 with all its fantastic partners and amazing festival events.

Yeah Girl started on the Gold Coast and has grown to an international platform showcasing the many varied and awesome abilities of women’s skateboarding. BOWLZILLA is fortunate to be able to work with Yeah Girl every year to ensure the highest paid Equality-in-Skateboarding event in Australia and that it continues to support the ever-growing women’s skateboard community on its path to the largest international competitive stage.

"Yeah Girl was started as a way of showcasing the talents of our friends both on and off their skateboards. Being able to work with BOWLZILLA Gold Coast year in and year out to continue to offer a platform that not only celebrates but gives voice to womxn in skateboarding is an honour. The fact that Yeah Girl started on the Gold Coast and we get to come back here every year and be part of the largest Equality in Skateboarding event in Australia makes all the hard work to get here that much more special. This fifth year of BOWLZILLA Gold Coast is going to be the best one yet.” Sarah Huston – Yeah Girl

BOWLZILLA Gold Coast would not be possible without the vision and support of Gold Coast City Council. Their continued investment over the years has been visionary in not just building the skatepark but looking for ways to ensure it continues to grow with the community and be able to be utilised as the best platform in Australia for events of this type. Having BOWLZILLA Gold Coast continue to be the largest event of its kind in Australia is a case study in how supporting skateboarding in the rights ways pays dividends for the whole community.

A City of Gold Coast spokesperson said:

“We’re proud of the investment, development and support we have given the skateboard community over the years. Many people say they are surprised by how big skateboarding is becoming with its entry into the Olympic Games and also how much the Gold Coast benefits from it. We are not surprised. In all the years of working with skateboarders it is apparent how hard working and civic minded they are. For relatively small investments in skateboarding compared to other activities the on-flow benefits to the community are so much bigger. Knowing that local riders like Keegan Palmer and community focused organisations like Yeah Girl have gone on to such international acclaim proves to everyone how worthwhile our investment in BOWLZILLA Gold Coast has been. We look forward to many more years of increased benefit for all.”

The growth of BOWLZILLA Gold Coast each year to be the biggest skateboard festival in Australia is only possible from having the support of others. The Queensland Government through Tourism and Events Queensland help to amplify all the awesomeness by featuring it on the It’s Live! in Queensland events calendar, worth $880m to the state’s economy in 2020.

For the fifth year of the BOWLZILLA Gold Coast festival it will have all the usual full week of fun on and off the board. It all gets rolling with a girl’s learn to ride clinic with Yeah Girl and Gold Coast Skateboard Coaching, Beach Burrito Company is the night time venue for the week for art, food and parties, there are several local hosted barbecues at some of the best skateparks in Australia and it is all wrapped around the biggest comp of the year in Australia at Elanora skatepark.

“Five years into BOWLZILLA Gold Coast, wow! Being able to build a platform that is of the community it comes from and that showcases the best of our friend’s creativity on and off their boards has been the reward and continues to be the drive. The point of the competition at BOWLZILLA is not the placings but the camaraderie, inspiration, good times and opportunity it provides. If people come to BOWLZILLA with too serious an attitude they stick out like sore thumbs. Our goal is to promote and elevate the great and fun parts of the skateboarding lifestyle. Come have fun with us and celebrate how awesome our friends are!” Chad Ford; BOWLZILLA – Director.

Dates:

14th March 2019

Event info:

10th March: Yeah Girl x Gold Coast Skateboard Coaching – Girl’s Learn To Ride Clinic – Tugun Skatepark, Boyd St, Tugun 4224

11th March: Gold Coast Grill – local hosted BBQ skate session – more to come

12th March: Tic Taco art exhibition – Beach Burrito Company; The Strand Shop 25/26, 72-80 Marine Parade, Coolangatta

13th March: Gold Coast Grill – local hosted BBQ skate session – more to come

14th March: BOWLZILLA™ Gold Coast, Australia’s; National Park Skating Championships – 1 Pines Lane, Elanora QLD 4221

14th March: Dive In – official after party – Beach Burrito Company; The Strand Shop 25/26, 72-80 Marine Parade, Coolangatta 4225 Ph:

Facebook: 

http://www.facebook.com/bowlzilla

https://www.facebook.com/DestinationGoldCoast/

https://www.facebook.com/yeahgirlskateboarding/

Instagram:

@bowlzilla #bowlzilla #bowlzillagoldcoast #nationalparkskatingchampionships

@destinationgoldcoast #WeAreGoldCoast

@yeahgirlskateboarding #yeahgirlskateboarding

Twitter:

@bowlzilla

@destgc

Filmed content:

 BOWLZILLA Gold Coast https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GBEV_W0yB78  

SNOWZILLA

SNOWLZILLA Jindabyne 22/09/2019 – Jindabyne Skatepark

BIGSHOT Drinks, Beach Burrito Company and BOWLZILLA are rolling into Jindabyne skatepark for a ballin’ good time to celebrate the end of the Australian 2019 snow season at the first ever skate comp at Jindabyne skatepark.

BOWLZILLA is getting the ball rolling with the skating, BIGSHOT Drinks are bringing the fun for this Over 18s skate jam and Beach Burrito Company are keeping it all going with the awards ceremony and after party. It’s going to be a Ballin’ afternoon of Fun & Shredding at Jindabyne Skatepark.

SNOWLZILLA is the first year for this end of snow season skate jam at Jindabyne skatepark. Incredibly this will be the first ever comp at the skatepark but it is just the start of many years to come for what is going to become the traditional end of snow season skate celebration.

"Our roots at BIGSHOT Drinks are in the action sports scenes. We’re all snowboarders, MX riders, surfers and skaters. Being able to put on a celebration where we have so many of our crew are based for the season and cover so many of our interests is bloody awesome. We’re going to have a lot of fun this first year and we can’t wait to blow everyone away with what we have install for the many years ahead.” Tim Vlandis – BIGSHOT Drinks – CMO   

 “We opened Beach Burrito Company Jindabyne because we love snowboarding and wanted to have an embassy of fun where we spend so much of our time outside of work. SNOWLZILLA is the perfect coming together of all of our passions. Hit the slopes in the morning with our friends, go for a skate in the afternoon and then celebrate it all with tacos and BIGSHOTs in the evening – EPIC!” Blake Read – Beach Burrito Company – El Jefe

The SNOWLZILLA skate jam is an Over 18s only comp with Open and Women’s divisions. The skating is being judged by use of the whole park – bowl and street course combined. The winners will be awarded for their highest scoring 35 second run through the whole park. It’s free to enter and there are a lot of prizes for the first year.

“Our friends own drink companies and Mexican restaurants and want us to help put together a skate session at a great skatepark in an awesome location and celebrate it all with an afterparty of tacos and drinks. Thanks for thinking of us. Or course we’ll be there! BOWLZILLA has always been about the gathering of our friends and the fun that comes from that. SNOWZILLA is blindingly obvious. Not sure why it has taken so long for something like this to happen? We’re here now though and that means many years of good times ahead with all our friends. Pack your bags and come celebrate with us.” Chad Ford – BOWLZILLA - President

Event Name:

SNOWZILLA™

Date:

22nd September 2019

Event info:

Competition – Over 18s; Open and Women’s divisions

Judging – flow comp, use of whole park – bowl and street course, best run counts

Entry – free

Location – Jindabyne Skatepark: 4 Bay St, Jindabyne, NSW, Australia 2627

Times – 2pm start, Women and then Open division

Awards Ceremony / After Party – SNOWBALLIN’ – official after party – Beach Burrito Company; 3/5 Kosciuszko Rd, Jindabyne NSW 2627, Australia PH: +61 2 6457 2681