last updated 3.50pm 29/11/09

What a great day. Epic skateboarding and an epic croud. Massive thanks to our sponsors. Results as posted on Results tab. Full Press Release to follow shortly.

last updated 9.10am 29/11/09

A beautiful day at the park. Competition is under way with Open Womens Jam on currently. Weather is forecast to stay fine all day so get on down here and check out the action.

last updated 6.10pm 28/11/09
Finally a great day. Got through all qualifying rounds and 13+ under semi finals. See below for update schedule for tomorrow. Everyone needs to be here 15mins prior to their heats for practice.

Sunday 29th
9am Womens Jam
9.30am 16+ under Semi final
11.15am Open Semi final
1pm Manual Comp
1.30pm Finals for 13+ under, 16+ under, Open Mens
3pm PRIZE GIVING

last updated 2pm 28/11/09

Park is dry and competition is finally on. Qualifying for 13 and under is underway. GET DOWN HERE

last updated 1.20pm 28/11/09

Again the park is drying. We hope to resume by 2pm. Get down here and get your mates down here. Thanks

last updated 12.45pm 28/11/09

Due to the latest shower the comp is back on hold again. As soon as weather clears we will resume. We will continue to push forward with the event. If come to 3pm and we still havent got under way we will pospone till tomorrow. Thanks for your patience!

last updated 11.35am 28/11/09

At this stage we plan to have all of the qualifying and at least the 13 and under semi finals complete today. Dependant on time we may even get through both the 16 and under and Open mens semi finals as initially planned. SO EVERYONE PLEASE TURN UP!

last updated 11.20am 28/11/09

Rain has stopped.Park is drying out. We anticipate we may be able to start judged runs at 12.30pm. Get down here asap and let all your freinds know. The forecast is for a sunny afternoon.

last updated 10.50am 28/11/09

Due to it still drizzling we will update the site again at 12pm with a propossed 12.30 start for practice with qualifing starting at 1pm. Please keep an eye on the weather. WE WILL RUN THE EVENT TODAY!

last updated 10.06am 28/11/09

We are hopefull for an 11.30 start. This weather has already cleared south of Chch. We will post another update at 11am. Please stay tuned in. Thanks.

last updated 9.20am 28/11/09

The weather is slowly improving so if we could get everyone down to the park as soon as possible we will try to get under way by 10.15am. THE PARK IS NEARLY DRY!

last updated 5.40am 28/11/09

2009 Cheapskates Skateboard Nationals

Good mroning. Well it looks like the rain has passed over night and the park should dry rather quickly. We are should therefore be able to start on time today and keep to the below schedule. See you all soon!

All times are subject to change, based on numbers of entered skaters.

Friday 27th

1:00pm	Registration and practice opens @ Washington
5:00pm	Registration and practice closes
5:00pm	Bowl session opens at Thompson Park

Saturday 28th

8:00am	13 & under qualifying practice
8:55	13 & under qualifying
9:30	16 & under qualifying practice
9:40	16 & under qualifying
10:35	Open qualifying practice
10:45	Open qualifying
12:00pm	13 & Under semi-final practice
12:15	13 & Under semi-final
1:45	16 & Under semi-final practice
2:00	16 & Under semi-final
3:30	Open semi-final practice
3:45	Open semi-final
5:15	Finish & head out to Thompson Bowl Jam

Sunday 29th

9:00am	Women’s practice
9:15am	Women’s Jam
9:45	13 & Under final practice
10:00	13 & Under final
11:00	16 & Under final practice
11:15	16 & Under final
12:30pm	Manual comp practice
12:40	Manual comp (invite only)
1:00	Open final practice
1:15	Open final
3:00	Prizegiving

Explanation of times in event schedule:

Women’s Jams: The times for the Women’s jam are based on up to 15 Women entering.

Qualifying rounds: The qualifying rounds for the 13 & Under, the 16 & Under and the Open divisions will consist of one minute runs. Each skater will have one run, death or glory style.

The qualifying rounds’ numbers have been capped, but we do have a new division, the 13 and under, which should create some space for us to have a similar number of entries. All age groups are based on your age at January 1st, 2009. This year only 20 skaters in the 13 and under division, 30 in the 16 and under, and 40 in the open will have a ‘wildcard’ chance to qualify through to the semi finals, this allows us to get enough done on day one (Saturday) that we could get a result from that day if we were rained out on the Sunday.

Semi finals: The semi-finals will have up to 30 skaters in each of the men’s divisions. There will have been roughly 12 Regional competitions around the country, which means there will be approximately 24 skaters pre-qualified in each division (1st and 2nd in each division).

The semi-finals will consist of two one minute runs for each skater, run in the same style as the qualifying round, with each group of five skaters having their 1st run one after the other, then two minutes to practice, then their 2nd run one after the other, in the same order. Best run counts.

Finals: The Finals for each division will have ten skaters in them, they will have two runs and then compete in a best trick style event on the features in the middle of the park, being scored overall.

last updated 15/10/09

2009 Cheapskates Skateboard Nationals

CHANGE IN LOCATION - the 2009 Cheapskates Skateboard Nationals presented by Element and Vans will now be located at WASHINGTON PARK in Christchurch. The change in location is due to a change in the sponsorship structure and the overall feeling that this year it would be better to return to out roots due to the current economic climate. For those of you that had already booked flights to Auckland, please email Reuben (reuben@nz500.com) to discuss possible change fee reimbursement.

Open Mens and Womens divisions
16 & under and 13 & under boys division
full format national street comp

note: age categories are based on your age as of Jan 1st 2009.

entry/ practice 1pm-5pm Fri 27th, bowl jam at Thompson Park Fri 27th 5pm-8pm, quals and semis Sat 28th, semis and finals Sun 29th
no competition entry fee

register to enter on site on Fri 27th from 1pm
or qualify at your local Regional Champs (see local skate store for details)

NOTE: This is a drug, alcohol and smoke free competition, bags will be checked. Washington Park is within the CCC liquor ban area, absolutely NO ALCOHOL tolerance.

last updated 20/11/08

2008 Skateboard Nationals Summary

The 2008 Cheapskates Nationals supported by Vans and Element, consisted of a full three days of epic skateboarding, from the practice sessions on Friday the 14th to the Finals and Best Trick competitions on Sunday the 16th.

Competition kicked off early on the Saturday morning, with the 16 and Under Division's qualifying round, then the Women's Division had a jam session, followed by the Open Men's Division qualifying round and the 16 and Under semi-finals. Early standouts in the 16 and Under division included Sean Cupples and Eru Tutaki, while Georgina Matthews dominated the Women's competition. Nick Lister skated well in the Open Men's qualifying.

Finals day also kicked off early, with the Open Men's semi-final up first, at 9:30am. Mike Bancroft showed he was keen by being two hours early (showed up at 7:30am!), and Matt Scarrott threw down the gauntlet in the early morning semi with his big ollies on the transition sections of the park and large 360 flips.

Temuka/Timaru local Eru Tutaki represented the south well, and pulled off the win in the 16 and Under final, impressing the judges with his street skating skills, a couple of highlights were his bluntslide on the big down box and a backside lipslide to fakie on the concrete block. Also worth a mention were the transition skills of Sean Cupples and Sean Bone, and Mitchell Howse for hurting his wrist on the Saturday and continuing to skate all weekend, he finished with a respectable third.

Georgina Matthews skated the whole course and won the Women's final convincingly, with Ester Campbell also deserving a mention for skating hard and taking slams right in front of the judges. Sophie Allen impressed with her transition skills.

The Open final was a great showcase of NZ's top skaters, with ten talented skateboarders battling it out for the $3,000 first prize. The top three skaters got an extra run in a 'super final', which gave them the opportunity to better their score, and the crowd an opportunity to see them skate again. Max Couling, originally from the West Coast of the South Island but now from Christchurch, ripped it up in the final with an amazing display of technical wizardry, including switch lipslides and a nollie kickflip off the side of the ramp that was over head height. Edwin Massold skated solidly with an impressive variety of tricks, but in the end it was the power skateboarding of Matt Scarrott that won him the title, he skated, grinded and 360 flipped his way to a $3,000 pay day, after last having won the Nationals over 6 years ago.

The best trick competition saw $2,000 given away, consisting of $500 for each best trick on four different obstacles. Steven Carter won the first $500 with a frontside feeble 180 out and a hurricane grind on the rail in the middle of the course. Umberto Skinner took out the next $500 with a fronside flip over the channel, and Edwin Massold also won another $500 (in addition to $1,500 for second place overall). Reuben Baker from Gisbourne finshed off the entire event with a last try alley-oop backside 270 kickflip onto the wallride feature, and the crowd went wild!

Big ups to everyone that was involved, thanks for the support and see you next year!