Snowboarders Keani Wilson and Brooke Hansen, both 17, and downhill mountain bikers Quinn Ravenwood, 13, and Indy Deavoll, 16, have been selected for the ‘RISER’ programme, which will provide aspiring Kiwi athletes with a supportive pathway to hone their talents further.
The programme aims to help young athletes compete at the highest level by providing access to resources such as performance development, social media training and financial support to help springboard them to a potential elite career and prepare for international sponsorship opportunities.
They also receive a personalised gear kit and some financial support to help with competition costs.
Other wraparound support, such as mindset coaching, is being developed.
Mountain bike athletes will receive elite support from Queenstown-based Onward MTB Coaching, while athletes will also have access to a digital marketing coach, focusing on enhancing their online profiles to improve the chances of being noticed by international brands, and ongoing education about professional sponsorships.
AJHBNZ co-founder and managing director Henry van Asch says the programme feels like "it’s coming full circle".
"In my 20s, I represented NZ in European speed skiing and competed internationally in downhill mountain biking, so I understand the challenges aspiring high-performance athletes encounter.
"We believe it’s important to support young Kiwis on their journey to achieving excellence in their respective disciplines, with the overall goal of helping them to be noticed by global brands.
"If we can help our RISER athletes to get noticed by big players like Red Bull, for example, then we have done a good job."
Indy, who started downhill mountain biking less than two years ago and this year became the South Island Schools MTB downhill and enduro champion and finished second in the under-17 Downhill National Champs, says she’s stoked to be part of the first RISER intake.
"The support this programme gives me, in the way of coaching and travel costs, will really help to grow me as an athlete.
"I think it’s really cool that this local Queenstown business is giving back to the community and helping young athletes."
Fellow mountain biker Quinn has been riding most of his life and last year became the South Island Secondary Schools U14 champ.
Keani recently won the 2024 Snow Sports NZ Slopestyle Series, came first overall in the NZ Junior Freeride Tour, and is currently preparing to head back to the northern hemisphere to compete in the World Junior Freeride Championship, while Brooke was a finalist in the ‘breakthrough season’ category at this year’s Snow Sports Awards.
She’s also set to compete at the World Junior Freeride Champs in Austria next month — at the last worlds, she finished second-best female.
Young Kiwi athletes competing in any action sport discipline at the highest level nationally or internationally, with aspirations of taking their sport to the elite level, can apply for the annual RISER sponsorship programme by emailing riser@bungy.co.nz
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