The Skateboarding for Hope community outreach programme will be rocking the Diamond City this weekend with a full day of skateboarding action at the Kimberley Skate Plaza. Skateboarding enthusiasts from across the Northern Cape and Free State will descend on the state-of-the-art skate park to show off and showcase their skateboarding tricks on Saturday, 15 June 2013.
One talented skateboarder will also win a wild card entry into the world skateboarding championships, which will be taking place in Kimberley in September. The day’s action will include skateboarding clinics, demos, best trick competitions with cash prizes and skateboarding merchandise up for grabs.
The Skateboarding for Hope initiative was launched by the Northern Cape provincial government to offer South African youth the opportunity to challenge themselves mentally and physically. The programme aims to introduce youth to skateboarding as a healthy, affordable and accessible lifestyle alternative, while creating a strong youth culture centred around mutual respect and intercultural cohesiveness. As a way of combatting socio-economic problems affecting the youth, Skateboarding for Hope presents road shows with skateboarding clinics and life skills training to raise awareness of the fastest growing sport in the world.
The Skateboarding for Hope road show is proudly supported by Anglo American’s Kumba Iron Ore and is currently traveling across the country to promote skateboarding as a sport and to identify emerging talent to compete in the amateur division of the world championships. Retail partner Boogaloos has lined up a jam-packed schedule in seven of the country’s nine provinces and has also added three Grand Slam events in Cape Town, Durban and Johannesburg respectively.
According to Mr John Block, Northern Cape MEC for Finance, Economic Development and Tourism, it is especially fitting that the tour should land in Kimberley this weekend. “Kimberley has definitely become the official home of skateboarding in this country and it is only appropriate that the Skateboarding for Hope event should form part of the Youth Day celebrations in the province. After all, as a government collective we are committed to youth development and upliftment, which form the cornerstones of this campaign.”
According to Gert Schoeman of Kumba Iron Ore, the reaction to the road show has been encouraging. “We have been overwhelmed by the positive response from our youngsters as well as the impressive growth in the sport locally. These activations also earmark the incredibly talented skateboarders in this country and it has been gratifying to see the escalation in skills levels over the past couple of years. We are definitely looking forward to the day when we can crown a South African as a skateboarding world champion,” mentions Schoeman.
Upcoming Skateboarding for Hope tour stops include:
Saturday, 15 June: Maloof Skate Plaza, Kimberley
Saturday, 6 July: Loch Logan Mall, Bloemfontein
Saturday, 13 July: Skatelab, George
Saturday, 27 July: Riverside Mall, Nelspruit
Saturday, 24 August: Kings Beach Skatepark, Port Elizabeth
Saturday, 31 August: Boogaloos Stoneridge Skate park, Edenvale
Saturday, 8 Sept: Canal Walk Shopping Centre, Cape Town
Follow the Skateboarding for Hope tour on Facebook at Northern Cape Tourism or Boogaloos SA for the latest updates.
URL: http://www.experiencenortherncape.com
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Author: Ronelda Visser from Peridot Communications. Originally distributed by MyPR.co.za.
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Non-stop skateboarding action at the Kimberley Skate Plaza this weekend. Photographer: Rudi Jeggle
