The Woolley brothers from Minnamurra are fast taking Australia’s skateboarding scene by storm.
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The younger Daniel Woolley enjoyed bragging rights at the recent Australian Championships of Street Skateboarding competition, winning the 12 and under division.
But those in the know believe older brother Kieran is the real deal and has what it takes to represent Australia at the Tokyo Olympics in 2020.
Professional vertical skateboarder Renton Millar feels the 14-year-old is destined for higher honours.
Kieran placed third in the 16 and under division of the Australian Skateboarding Federation’s inaugural Australian Championships of Street Skateboarding competition at Bato Yard on NSW’s Central Coast.
Millar praised this performance on April 28 but said Keiran’s showing the following day at the Continental Cup was the real “showstopper”.
“He came fourth in Oceania but this was an open-age competition, so he was competing against much older, experienced guys,” he said.
“The Continental Cup next year will probably be a qualifier for the Olympics. If it was a qualifier this year, Kieran would have made the team.”
Mark Woolley doesn’t want to add to the hype but feels both his sons have a future in the exciting sport.
“Daniel did exceptionally well at the nationals. That was his biggest win by far,” Woolley said.
“While Daniel may not be as serious as Kieran, he has impressed recently. Apart from the nationals, he also won his division in the 20th annual Fernside Skate Competition.”
Kieran also won his category at Australia’s longest running skate competition.
“They won a year’s supply of Beach Burrito, which they were both pretty excited about,” Woolley said.
But it is Kieran’s long run of success, which includes back-to-back junior Australian Bowl-Riding Championships’ (ABC) titles, which has plenty of good judges excited.
The Corpus Christi Catholic High School year 9 student is also daring to dream.
“The Olympics is definitely something he’s keeping an eye on,” Woolley said.
“Kieran is a hard worker and he is always training. He just has a lot of fun skateboarding. He really enjoys it, and obviously he wants to take it as far as he can.”
Australian selectors also believe he has a big future, and selected Kieran for an Olympic development squad earlier in 2018.
Kieran has also been accepted into the Illawarra Academy of Sport’s LoneStar Scholarship Program, which is designed to support the developmental needs of the region’s young talented athletes by providing industry leading high performance sport development programs.
