Speed climbing wall brings benefits to Bay of Plenty

With sport climbing scheduled to make its Olympic debut at the 2020 Games Tokyo next year, the Bay of Plenty Sport Climbing Association (BOPSCA) has built a 15.7 metres high climbing wall to cater for ongoing interest.

Experiencing a 20% increase in membership each year since sport climbing’s announcement as an Olympic Sport, BOPSCA completed the building of the wall at Blake Park late last year.

With earthworks, steel framework, climbing holds and other building costs adding up quickly to around $150,000, the construction was backed by a TECT grant of $73,739 along with other funders.

With the Association working to support and grow climbing as a sport in New Zealand, with a focus on supporting local and New Zealand climbers to perform to International and Olympic performance levels, BOPSCA committee member and New Zealand head coach Rob Moore says the speed wall is allowing their athletes to reach new levels.

Moore advised this week “for our athletes that are going to Youth and Open World Champs, they can now go there more competitively as they can train consistently, on a speed wall that is exactly the same at all competitions they go to. At the Youth World Champs now we are just knocking on the door for semi-finals for some of our grades which is very cool.

"It's also opening up opportunities for people who might be completely outside the realm of climbing. You never know when or where we are going to find the next speed climbing champ, so we have been going to all the CrossFit and gymnastic places and encouraging people to give it a try."

BOPSCA's home training ground is the Rocktopia Climbing gym in Mount Maunganui. While Rocktopia has the appropriate bouldering walls and rope climbing walls, the addition of the speed wall is now allowing athletes from across the country to train all three disciplines here in Tauranga.

Adding that the speed climbing wall brings many benefits to the region, Moore added “it's enabling athletes to train and compete at an international level across all three disciplines of the sport; it's opening up coaching opportunities, profiling speed climbing as a sport in its own right, and will also attract overseas athletes for climbing competitions.

"It's also an incredible community asset for those younger kids coming through. They have this opportunity to try out speed climbing, get passionate about it, and have something they can really strive for. We're forming this pathway for them to progress through the sport and onto things like national events, the world champs, or even the Olympics."

TECT Trustee Mark Arundel added “the speed climbing wall is a fantastic asset for our region, helping establish Tauranga as the climbing hub of the country. With all the training and events that can be held here, we will not only see many economic benefits, but benefits for our community and its wellbeing. More young people getting active in a sport that could lead to big goals like the Olympics - it's an incredible thing to be a part of.

"We're pleased our funding has helped make the project possible. To see it standing today at Blake Park, a facility we have helped build with funding for other community sports groups, we know we are securing the Western Bay of Plenty's future as one of the greatest places to live in New Zealand."

Image courtesy of BOPSCA.