World Skateboarding Grand Prix (WSGP), the leading international skateboarding events management company, today announced plans to expand into South America in 2017 with National Championship events in 10 countries leading up to the first-ever Latin American Skateboarding Championships in September 2017. The expansion comes after months of negotiations and planning visits. “We have had some very successful meetings in recent months that have enabled us to announce our plans for South America expansion,” said Tim McFerran, president of World Skateboarding Grand Prix. “South American is the next hotbed for skateboarding and the time is right to build out the infrastructure for a series of National Championships leading up to the biggest skateboarding contest ever held in South America: The Latin American Championships. We’ll announce the host city in May 2016.” The 10 National Championship events will be held in Brazil, Colombia, Argentina, Peru, Venezuela, Chile, Ecuador, Bolivia, Paraguay and Uruguay. The first event will be held in January 2017 and the last event in early September 2017. The Latin American Championships will be open to all winners from the 10 National Championship events and will include the top pros from around the world. The top finishers from the Latin American Championships will earn a trip to the Skateboarding World Championships, which will be held in October 2017 in one of the Grand Prix stops: Vietnam, Canada or South Africa. The Latin American Championships will be part of the Grand Prix circuit which also includes the Kimberley Diamond Cup in South Africa and the Lotus Cup in Vietnam. WSGP also runs national championship events in Canada, Turkey, South Africa, Réunion Islands and the U.S. “Although South America is a hot bed for skateboarding and the fastest growing market in the world, it is underserved by skateboarding companies. We hope to change that by working with the local skate communities in each country, handing out free skateboards and helping to organize the communities to better work with international skateboard companies. We did it in South Africa and I am confident we can do it here in South America,” said McFerran.All WSGP events are sanctioned by the World Skateboarding Federation and include the Rider Cup Team Championships, the Turkish Skateboarding Championships, the U.S. Skateboarding Championships, the Canadian Skateboarding Championships (Coming 2016), the Lotus Cup Vietnam Skateboarding Championships and the World Skateboarding Championships at the Kimberley Diamond Cup. For the latest news and information on World Skateboarding Grand Prix events, visit www.worldskateboarding.com.