Barrett Homes NZ Open SUP and Longboarding Mt Maunganui

Stella Smith

The New Zealand Open SUP and Longboard event was run at Mt Maunganui over the weekend with five surfers from the Gisborne Boardriders Club making it to the event. Waves for the event were a reasonably contestable 1-2 feet and clean on day one and slightly larger on Sunday but very wind affected.

Gisborne’s most notable performance came from 14 year old Stella Smith (GBC) who totally dominated the Open Women’s SUP division winning with a total heat score of 16.30.
The other three finalists required a combination of scores to have a shot at the title. This big win comes hot on the heels of Smith’s NZ National Open Women’s SUP title she won at Piha in January.
There were no Junior events on offer in any division over the weekend so that left her competing in the Open Women’s SUP Smith’s only option.
Smith bagged more than a handful of prizes from Barrett Homes, the major sponsor of the event including a $50.00 bottle of Makaraka Reserve Pinot Noir wine of Chile.
Marguerite Vujcich (GBC) of Hawkes Bay travels to attend all Gisborne Boardriders events made the trip through to Mt Maunganui and competed in two divisions. Vujcich entered in the over 50 Longboard division where she competed with the men. Vujcich was unfortunately bundled out early in this event. Vujcich made up for the age group loss by making the Open Women’s Longboard final where she placed 4th.
Stella Smith’s father Gary Smith (GBC) competed in the Open Men’s SUP but was unfortunately out classed in round one finishing 3rd in his heat.
Fifteen year old Brie Ryan (GBC) was another junior competing in the Open Men’s Longboard division and was able to gather some valuable experience surfing against New Zealand’s top Longboarders. He performed well and was poised to progress through Round One in second place but within the final minute dropped to 3rd and was eliminated in round one.
Gisborne’s Development Manager Kelly Ryan was present and entered the Open Logger Division where competitors are only allowed to ride heavy single fin Longboards shaped in the traditional 1960’s style.
Ryan placed third overall and was pleased with the way Gisborne performed.
“To have three out of five surfers make finals today is really encouraging. I know there are a lot of talented SUP and Longboard surfers locally who could have shaken things up over at the Mt, so it would be great to see a few more making the effort. Stella Smith has really put Gisborne, Women’s SUP and the sport of SUP on the map lately with her rise in performance and she is also dominant in other areas of surfing and Surflifesaving. I see a great future in kids who are multi talented board riders as I believe that’s where the sport will grow the most in the very near future.”
Look out from April 1st-9th when The Ultimate Waterman NZ begins here. The whole event is mobile and could end up right here in Gisborne especially given our wave quality at that time of year. The Ultimate Waterman is an event that combines a multitude of water craft including Longboard, Shortboard and SUP as local, national and international competitors vie for the Title of Ultimate Waterman NZ.

WASS – The New, Improved Wednesday Sport

WASS bannerAs our Wednesday Sport programme is approaching its 4th birthday, we decided it was time for a new name and a new look, so that we could continue to engage Tairawhiti Youth. Wednesday After-School Sport is an active response to the dwindling sports participation rates in our region. Every Wednesday hundreds of students from the majority of Tairawhiti high schools take part in a range of sports at venues around the city, and up the coast. All the sports provided are free, thanks to the generous support of KiwiSport, and transport options are made available.

After much deliberation, countless whiteboards and a fair amount of coffee, we landed on WASS, a simple abbreviation of Wednesday After School Sport. The logo represents many things, the arrow being our vision of the growth of sporting participation in Secondary Schools. The interlinking Korus represent the constant growth and change of the program, required to meet the constantly changing needs of today’s sporting participant. Finally, the Mere is symbolic of our fight against the negative sport and health trends in the region, and the approach required to achieve our dream of a healthier, more active Tairawhiti.

WASS also comes with a brand-new set of exciting activities on offer for term 1. The term 1 menu can be viewed below, and students can sign up through their school or online, with this form

WASS Term 1 Menu

Gisborne Surfers storm Whangamata Grom Series

Finn Johnson
Finn Johnson. Image courtesy of Cory / NZ Surfing Magazine

Gisborne Boardriders – Words by Kelly Ryan

Great weekend away in Whangamata for Gisborne. We took 11 surfers from Gisborne and managed to get 3 surfers into the finals. The waves turned up and ranged from good to excellent from Friday through to Sunday with Sunday being the smallest and most difficult in the early afternoon when a sea breeze popped up then disappeared again for perfectly offshore finals.

Saffi Vette was easily our top performer in the event, taking a huge lead in the final and winning the Under 17 Girls division convincingly. Vette left all fellow finalists requiring a combination of scores to catch her. This was a far cry from her near elimination in the semifinals and credit must go to Vette for her ability, tenacity and competitive nature. It was Kai Wolf who unfortunately handed Vette her finals spot being hit with an interference call late in the semifinal heat. Saffi posted an 8 and a 9 point ride in the final.
Young Ava Smith was another of our finalists, surfing for her first time in a National rated competition. Smith looks set to follow in the footsteps of both her older sisters as she went about casually scalping Under 14 Girl surfers from all over New Zealand on her way to a fourth place finish in that division.
Finn Vette was our third finalist and finished 3rd overall in the Under 14 Boys event.
Vette showed flashes of absolute brilliance in the early rounds of competition but had to settle for 3rd in the final. Judging by his performance and competitive spirit it will be just a matter of time before he takes a win in one of these events.
As this is a Series of events a finals placing is perfect for these surfers,  if they can maintain consistency a series win will be on the cards.

Continue reading “Gisborne Surfers storm Whangamata Grom Series”

Ladies, become an Olympian!

The Black Ferns ‘Go For Gold’ programme is coming to Gisborne, next Wednesday (the 15th)!
In 2012, New Zealand Rugby undertook a nationwide search for talented sports women with an Olympic dream. Fast forward to Rio 2016. Five of the women standing on the medal podium could trace their journey to the Olympics back to their selection for the Go For Gold search four years earlier.
The journey towards Tokyo 2020 has begun, and New Zealand Rugby is searching for more sevens talent!
They want athletes with speed, agility, power, a competitive streak, a strong work ethic, a love for sport and a great team attitude. You don’t need any prior rugby experience to be involved – they will show you the ropes.

Share it around, and contact Poverty Bay Rugby Football Union for more info

GO FOR GOLD: Join the team

Do you think you’ve got what it takes to be a #BlackFerns7s player? If you do, our 'Go For Gold' programme could be just for you!We are looking for future players to compete at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and will be holding training camps around the country in February.If this sounds like you, find out more information at www.sevensgoforgold.co.nz

Posted by Black Ferns on Wednesday, January 18, 2017

Activators 2017, our biggest and best yet!

This summer, hundreds of Gisborne kids turned out to participate in surfing, skateboarding, scootering, sand-castle building, bomb-competitions, cycling, touch, ultimate frisbee, tug-o-war, pool dodgeball and more, across four epic days of free activities. Our Activators series was a joint-venture with Gisborne District Council, to keep local tamariki bsy and active throughout the school holidays.

The series kicked off with the popular Big Beach Fiesta, a day of beach activities at Waikanae Beach. Sand-castle building was first on the agenda, and teams of kids and whanau raced against the heat and incoming tide to sculpt masterpieces of elephants, octopuses, dragons and toy-story characters, with cash-prizes going to the most intricate of designs. Following this was 2 hours of free surf lessons with iconic Gisborne surf coach, Frank. The day wound down with beach athletics, football and a free BBQ.

The following Saturday saw a crowd of kids and adults flock to the Alfred Cox Skate Park for Actvsk8, a skate and scooter competition. The afternoon featured fast-moving, informal competitions for the young and old, with big prizes courtesy of Kingpin! Whanau were kept entertained by a live DJ, and a BBQ.

Wicked Water Wednesday was our third event of the series, an afternoon of free activities at the Olympic Pool Complex. Kids tug-o-war’ed, bombed, slid and swam the afternoon away, and things were wrapped up with another BBQ. The main event was certainly the bomb competition, in which kids bombed, flipped and dove into the turbulent waters of the pool complex’s diving pool, to crown a junior and open East Coast Bombing Champion.

All good things come to an end, and that end came in the form of our Kaiti Kids Fun Day at Ilminster School. The highlight of the afternoon was kids having the opportunity to take the first ride on Ilminster’s brand new ‘Bikes in Schools’ cycle track and skills area. The new facilities were a big hit, and will be an asset to the school moving forward. After cycling, kids participated in ultimate frisbee, touch and much deserved pool activities, on what was a scorching day.

Thanks to our sponsors Kingpin, The Hits Gisborne, Gisborne District Council and the Gisborne Olympic Pool, and most importantly, thanks to everyone that came along!

Activators 2017

Highlight reel from our summer Activators series! What activities would you like to see next year? Thanks to the support of Gisborne District Council, The Hits Gisborne, Kingpin Eastcoast and Gisborne Olympic Pools

Posted by Whiti Ora on Monday, January 30, 2017