Inspired by the success of the recently opened destination skatepark at Mount Maunganui, skateboards from the Tauranga Museum collection are currently on display at Te Ao Mārama - Tauranga Library and will be available to view until Friday 29 November.

As part of the exhibition, visitors are invited to enter their own skateboard designs into a competition, with the winning design to be printed on vinyl and mounted on a 8.0” skate deck!

While New Zealanders were quick to take up the ‘sidewalk surfer’ craze in the 1960s – the youth of Tauranga being no exception – critics believed that skateboarding was a fad. Some called for a total ban due to serious injuries of riders, and hard clay and metal wheels made skateboarding difficult. Indeed, the smallest stone could become a huge obstacle!

The invention of urethane wheels in 1972 saw a resurgence in the popularity of skateboarding and innovative board design inspired jumps like the Ollie, which became the basis of most tricks. In Mount Maunganui, a group of friends began producing New Zealand’s first fibreglass competition skateboard under their brand Cahoot Skateboard Co. Cahoot sold boards all over the country and promoted the sport by holding displays in public carparks.

To see boards that track the evolution of design, learn more about the history of skateboarding, or enter the competition, check out the display at Te Ao Mārama - Tauranga Library.