Street skateboarder shows style, ‘steeziness’

A 13-year-old skateboarder has ollied and kickflipped his way to victory.
Lenny Torrens, from Hauraki Plains College, took out the junior division of the secondary schools street skateboarding competition last month.
The two-day nationwide contest saw Lenny judged on style and “steeziness” – how he landed the tricks – and he finished up his final round with 89.30 points – 30 points ahead of the second place-getter.
“I was pretty stoked,” he said, “because my first run, I basically carked everything up.”
Street skateboarding is a skateboarding discipline which focuses on flat-ground tricks, grinds, slides, and aerials within urban environments and public spaces.
After making its debut on the Olympic stage at the Nanjing 2014 Youth Olympic Games, skateboarding was one of the five sports to make an Olympic debut at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
It featured the disciplines of street and park and had separate competitions for men and women.
Skateboarding New Zealand hoped to have its first representative at the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028, and Lenny said perceptions around the sport were starting to change in New Zealand.
“People know rugby players and the rules and what a kick is, but no one really knows anything about skateboarding,” he said. “They know Tony Hawk and that’s it.
“But since it’s been in the Olympics, people might see it as more of a sport now.”
Lenny started skateboarding around age eight thanks to his dad, Simon, but he only recognised it was something to pursue two years later.
Earlier this year he won a scholarship to attend Woodward West, a skateboarding camp in America. There, he met one of his skateboarding idols Jake Wooten.
He also skates with the Young Guns Skate School in Auckland and has now set his sights on other skateboarding milestones.
“Winning the nationals in Gisborne and getting a pro board would be cool,” he said.
The 2023 Skateboard Nationals for Park, Street and Vert take place this week, and it’ll be the biggest contest Lenny has skated in.
He has sustained injuries from the sport – such as a broken wrist, elbow, and one rib – but says he wants to skate for “the rest of my life”.
“I’m always proud when I go into comps and do well in them because I put the effort in,” he said. “My mates have supported me quite a bit, so thanks to them and my parents and to The Good Room and Young Guns for helping me learn.”