Woodchopper takes a swing at his goals

A Manawatu teen is swinging hard at his goals in the sport of woodchopping.

Angus Grant, 15, began woodchopping when he was 9.

His father and two older brothers compete, his mother takes part in the Jack and Jill sawing, and a younger brother and sister are learning.

‘‘We live on a farm at Turakina. We do lots of training at home. My brothers have been able to teach me a lot, and I’ve got quite competitive competing for bragging rights.’’

Both his older brothers Aidan, 21, and Brodie, 19, have been members of the national under-21 team and Angus hopes to one day make the team.

Last month, he took a big step up, competing at the Sydney Royal Easter Show Woodchop, the world’s biggest woodchopping competition.

He competed in 24 classes and came back with a second placing in the under-18 years 10-inch log underhand. The event was a massive step up, he said.

Some events had as many as 180 people competing and some ran to 11 or 12 heats.

‘‘It’s a pretty different experience to woodchopping in New Zealand. There’s a lot more competitors and harder wood. You have to cut their wood in a different way.

‘‘For the first three to four days I was struggling a bit, and then I picked it up a bit more and then by the end I was going pretty well.’’

The second placing was really exciting, he said.

Woodchopping is not well known as a sport in New Zealand, but Kiwi clubs include many family groups, Angus says.

‘‘I started because it looked like fun. It’s quite a good hobby. It keeps you in good shape, and there’s lots of cool people.

‘‘It’s got quite a cool history, too, carrying on what pioneers and bushmen in New Zealand were doing. It’s a sport that’s come from our history.’’