Two men convicted of illegal longboarding have vowed to continue their “sport” despite a lack of allocated training grounds. Oliver Edward Dowie and Dion Matthew Sternberg, both 21 and of Willunga, were fined $150 in the Christies Beach Magistrates Court yesterday. They have now called for better facilities to enable them to safely practise their sport. “If we had a sectioned-off area for us to skate, I’d be there all the time,” Dowie said. “It’s a relatively new sport but it is growing really fast. I think something does need to happen sooner rather than later.” Dowie and Sternberg both pleaded guilty to one count each of riding a wheeled recreational device without due care. In an interview with The Advertiser, Dowie said that despite the December 2010 incident, he would not quit longboarding.

Longboarder Dion Sternberg rides Willunga Hill after his court appearance. Picture: Patrick Gorbunovs

“We’re not going to just give up the sport we’re all committed to,” he said. “We love doing it and we would love to keep going into events.” Dowie, who has been longboarding for about three years, said he intended to lobby relevant authorities to provide legal areas for them to train. “There will be something in the works. There is a large community of longboarders in Adelaide and I think we need to stand together a bit better and perhaps go to council,” he said. Dowie said that until the day of the offence, he and his mates had been skating on Old Willunga Rd regularly. “It was a few weeks after we got back from the world cup (longboarding event) at Bathurst and we were just skating because it’s what we like to do and training in a sense,” he said. “We do know the risks and we always take everything into account and try to be as safe as possible.”