Woodward is coming to Sydney
Woodward. The utopian skatepark facilities we’ve grown up watching and envying from afar through countless clips, photos and, of course, the Camp Woodward Show. It’s basically the Disney Land for skaters, with everything a skateboard heart can dream of - dreams that can come true if you have a big wallet and travel across the Pacific to the promised land of skateboard opportunity. In reality, an option reserved for the few, but that’s about to change. Woodward is coming Down Under and is set to open in Sydney, Australia in late 2024.
For more than 50 years, Woodward has provided kids (and adults) around the U.S. the opportunity to participate in action sports experiences, whether through its sport-specific summer camps (skateboarding, BMX, snowboarding and more) for young rippers or its introductory experiences for older athletes.
THE FACTS
Woodward Sydney will open in late 2024
It will be the ninth Woodward facility - the first outside North America - and the first to open since Woodward Park City in 2019
The facility will span 68,000 square feet over three levels.
Woodward Sydney will be the first urban facility to open in the heart of the city
The facility will be set up to accommodate skateboarding, BMX, scooter, snowboarding, skiing, rock climbing, bouldering and fitness training
First Urban Center
The facility will be Woodward’s first “urban center,” accessible from the heart of a major metro area in contrast to its mountain centers nestled into the ranges of Oregon, California, Utah, Colorado and Vermont or its overnight camps in Pennsylvania and California.
With Woodward Sydney, the brand’s nine locations will include Woodward Mt. Bachelor, Woodward Tahoe, Woodward West, Woodward Park City, Woodward Copper, Woodward Eldora, Woodward Pennsylvania and Woodward Killington.
The facility will span 68,000 square feet over three levels, which Gunnarson says is similar to the footprint of the building at the base of Woodward Park City.
Australia’s role in shaping action sports culture can’t be overstated, and some of the industry’s most promising athletes competing today hail from the continent.
At the Tokyo Olympics, Australian native Keegan Palmer took gold in the men’s skateboard park discipline.
Palmer moved to San Diego at 14 to train and pursue skateboarding professionally, but other Australian aspiring pro skateboarders may be able to remain at home with the new Woodward facility.
Woodward Sydney will not only be a crucial hub for progression in Australia but also for its neighbor, New Zealand where particularly snowboarding and freestyle skiing is thriving.
“An exhausting amount of internal discussion and research all pointed to the Australian market and in particular Sydney was the right place to start.”
“Australia has been hugely supportive of action sports as a whole, and we have great operating partners who were just frothing to bring a Woodward to the Australia action sports community,” said Woodward president Chris Gunnarson.
“An exhausting amount of internal discussion and research all pointed to the Australian market and in particular Sydney was the right place to start.”
Kieran Woolley, a New South Wales native, competed at the Tokyo Games in men’s skateboard park and is “extremely excited” for Woodward Sydney’s arrival.
On his second visit to the U.S., he spent a week at Woodward West, which he says improved his skating tremendously, not to mention allowed him to make new friends and connections in the sport.
“I’m sure there are thousands of kids just like me that dream of going to Woodward at some point during their life and now that’s going to be a reality for a lot of kids,” Woolley, 19, said. “It’s going to be sick to see all the action sport shredders it’s going to produce down under.”
“I’m sure there are thousands of kids just like me that dream of going to Woodward at some point during their life and now that’s going to be a reality for a lot of kids. It’s going to be sick to see all the action sport shredders it’s going to produce down under.”
And while Woodward has earned its reputation as the premier place for Olympians to hone their skills outside of competition— from snowboarders practicing landing their double cork 1620s on airbags before taking them to the mountain and skateboarders working on difficult lines in the park — the brand understands that to invest in the future of action sports is to invest in those who may want to learn them recreationally, with no professional aspirations.
“That’s the most exciting stuff to look at on social media, but it doesn’t show the other side of what we’re trying to create — a pipeline, a place you can show up and be fully immersed into not just a sport but a lifestyle that’s unique to action sports,” Gunnarson said.
“The pathway to progress at whatever place or level you want to get to is truly Woodward in a nutshell,” he added. “We want to be there every step of the way. We build out our programs to foster fun, individuality, and personal progression.”
The Woodward Sydney complex will also be a major jobs creator in the city. At almost every one of its locations, Woodward is a year-round business, flexing up its staffing seasonally to match its volume of business.
Many jobs at Woodward are year-round, allowing those who want to work in the industry to build a career—and, in Sydney, doing so in the community in which they already live.
“Woodward is a real factor for the growth of action sports from the consumer standpoint, but also a really important customer of ours is our employees,” Gunnarson said. “As we broaden out and expand it only creates more opportunities for likeminded people who love action sports to find real jobs and in some cases year-round jobs.”
And while Woodward Sydney will be the company’s first facility outside the US, it won’t be the last. The company is next eyeing an expansion “just north of the lower 48,” Gunnarson said, with a focus on being the global leader in action sports experiences.
“This won’t be the last you’ve heard about that effort to move forward on urban centers in different locations around the world and more densely populated areas,” Gunnarson said. “It all falls into our mission to grow action sports, grow participation and interests and do it in all the right ways.”
