Professional BMX rider Levi Goodall has been touring Invercargill schools and giving children a little taste of the sport.
Goodall performs stunts and tricks and gives the children an inspirational talk about his journey as a professional rider.
"I used to compete at lots of events from 2013 to 2015 basically trying to become a Redbull athlete was the goal.
"It went OK and I was top 100 for a couple of years, but in 2016 I had a really bad knee injury which stopped me riding for two years."
After his injury, Goodall decided to use his skills to coach and inspire others to take part in the sport.
"It’s like a dream come true to do what I do to be honest.
"I’m lucky I get to travel around schools and A&P shows and I have a lot of fun and it’s safer than competing."
He said he had been blown away by the children's reactions.
"The kids just love it. They kind of lose their minds over it and they’re screaming and chanting your name, it’s like a big concert sort of thing.
"I’ll have parents sending me photos or videos of their kids the next day or that evening trying to do jumps or wheelies in their backyard and it’s pretty dang cool."
Goodall takes a ramp and a landing airbag in a trailer that was given to him by Southland Hire and his gear and bicycles were provided by Wensley Cycles.
Southland Hire owner Phill Shepherd approached Goodall to tour schools in Southland and sponsored the show.
"I pitched it to him and told him we’d pay for him to do it and we’ve done a few shows now.
"It’s just trying to get more youth out on their push bikes, too many of them are on their phone and iPads."
Goodall’s stunts and trick videos could be found on his social media accounts including Tiktok, Instagram and YouTube.
