Jack competes in the sport of mototrials and next week will make his way to Queensland to compete in the 2008 Oceanic Challenge.

Mototrials is not racing - it involves competitors riding through a number of obstacle courses, sometimes over logs, hill climbs, boulders or whatever terrain is available.

Scoring is based on a points system, with the lowest point score winning - points are awarded if a rider puts their feet down, falls off, stalls the bike with their feet on the ground or if the motorcycle travels backwards.

The Oceanic Challenge is held each year between Australia and New Zealand.

A three man team is selected, expert, youth and masters, with Jack riding the youth class.

He will come up against top riders from New Zealand, including the country’s number one A-grader - who also falls in the 16 to 21 years youth category.

Jack, 17, has been riding competitively for three years and said he enjoys the skill involved.

He said the two-day Oceanic competition would involve about 15 ‘sections’ - marked out areas of obstacles - which the riders would all complete two to three times during the day.

“Over the day there would be six hours of riding, at least,” Jack said.

“I got into the sport because dad also does trials and we travel to competitions all over Australia.”

Jack, who competes on a 250cc Scorpa 2-stroke and rides under The Hell Team, sometimes trains in his backyard or on nearby properties.

“There are a few places around the area where farmers let him train on their properties,” Jack’s mother Cyndy said.

“He’s lucky because otherwise it would be difficult for him to train.

“We do a lot of travelling to competitions - particularly Jack and his dad.

“The mototrials season usually runs from Autumn through to Spring and they are usually away every second weekend.”

Although a relative new-comer to the sport, Jack has already made his mark placing fifth in the NSW A-Grade competition last year and second in Australia in the youth category.