Five Coasties will be in Italy this month, representing Australia in the slalom skateboarding team at the fourth edition of the World Skate Games.
To be held from September 6-22, the 2024 games will see more than 12,000 athletes and coaches take part from 100 countries worldwide.
Australia will field 14 teams across nine different disciplines.
Over 140 athletes will don the green and gold across the disciplines, which also include men’s and women’s inline hockey, roller derby, scootering and rink hockey.
Tens of thousands of fans from the four corners of the globe are also expected to flood into the country, with top racing talents from around the world taking part.
Australia’s slalom team comprises Coasties Neil Duddy (coach), Jack Meyn (team manager) and players Paul Shaddock, Imogen Mcmillan and Paul Carey, along with Ayesha Pang from the ACT, Jackson Shapiera from Sydney and Nathan Paff from Old Bar Beach.
They will compete in a three-race event in the streets of Chieti from September 11-15.
“I am truly honoured to be representing Australia as part of the slalom skateboard racing team, especially at the age of 62,” Carey said.
“I have lived on the Central Coast for 57 years and have been skateboarding for 49 years.”
Member for Wyong David Harris said the team had been training endlessly, with their last session held at Warnervale.
“I wish the team all the best in the competition,” he said.
Slalom skateboarding is a form of downhill skateboard racing that first appeared in the 1960s and 1970s and made a worldwide resurgence in the 2000s.
Racing events are electronically timed, adding to the challenge.
Competitors must launch from a ramp and navigate through a course of variously spaced cones while still generating speed, requiring technical strategy and high skill level.