Paraparaumu College student Alana Reardon placed third at the Free Style Roller Sports NZ Nationals Park and Street competition over Waitangi weekend, qualifying her for an international competition in Australia later this year.

The national competition was in Napier, and 13-year-old Reardon was up against girls who were significantly older than her.

The International Scooter Federation (ISF) World Scooter Championships is happening in October, and there are only 21 spots for competitors from New Zealand, so it’s considered a ‘golden ticket’ to get offered a place.

Reardon, from Waikanae, is planning to start fundraising soon for her flight to Australia.

She wants to fundraise by doing raffles and holding movie nights, but she also does some part-time work for local retirement villages, where she does chores like vacuuming and weeding.

She is also hoping to receive money from a Kāpiti Coast District Council grant.

Reardon also has to find time to practice, and currently, she is doing about 25 to 30 hours of training a week at the Waikanae Skate Park.

She started scootering two years ago after being inspired by her brother Liam, who used to scooter.

When you fall off, you just have to get back up and keep going.

Alana Reardon

Liam taught her a lot of her tricks, but when he gave up scootering, she resorted to things like YouTube to teach herself.

Since then, she’s had list of tricks she aspires to complete on a pinboard in her room, and she’s slowly ticking them off.

Alana Reardon performing a trick. Photo / Grace Odlum

The sport is almost entirely dominated by boys, so Reardon said she wants to see more girls competing.

She’s met a lot of fellow girls who scooter on Instagram, where she’s hoping to land a sponsor to fund some of her expenses.

It’s not a cheap sport – she has to replace different parts of her scooter regularly, including the hand grips and the wheels, which she replaces every three months.

She also goes through a lot of shoes and replaces them every three months, too.

She’s also hoping that scootering will become an official sport at the 2028 Olympics, and one of her long-term goals is to scooter competitively in the Olympics.

Skateboarding only became an official Olympic sport recently, making its debut at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, so Reardon hopes scootering is next.

Reardon said she loves skating at the park every day, and it’s very fulfilling learning all the new tricks.

“There’s something new to learn every day.”

She said there are lots of other benefits to scootering too, including a positive effect on mental health and opportunities to meet new people.

However, people who scooter do suffer a lot of injuries, and Reardon said she’s had her fair share, but it’s never put her off.

“When you fall off, you just have to get back up and keep going.”

She said even the professionals fall, and that it’s just a part of scootering.