31/03/2026
✨️ Ex Bay High student spotlight ✨️
Ben Mates
With the Winter Olympics still fresh in our minds, here we showcase ex-student Ben Mates, snowboard halfpipe Olympic semi-finalist, World Cup silver medalist and now a successful local businessman
Ben first started snowboarding at age 11 and trained hard, showing early talent. He competed in interschool championships putting Batemans Bay High school on the skiing map with wins when in he was in year 11 and 12. Despite his heavy athletic workload Ben persevered to finish Year 12 before taking his big step towards Olympic success.
"I enjoyed school and my favourite subjects were PE, Sport and woodwork."
Straight out of school, Ben was selected for the Australian team by the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) Winter Olympic Institute. AlS funded the first four years of his elite snowboard training which included a grinding international travel schedule which took him away for long periods to compete.
In a highly competitive sport where wins are hard to achieve, he chalked up 34 World Cups, three World Championships and two Olympics. Ben made his Olympic debut in snowboard halfpipe in Turino in 2006, aged 22, won a silver medal in the 2009 World Cup in Gujo Japan and reached the semi-finals of the Vancouver Winter Olympics in 2010
Following retirement from competition at age 27, Ben applied his talents in woodwork to take on a carpentry apprenticeship and now runs his own local business "Ben Mates Carpentry". This he combines with giving back to younger snowboard athletes three days per week at the Thredbo Mountain Academy where he assists with training and mentoring future Olympic snowboarders.
It is with pride that we add Ben to our growing list of outstanding Bay High graduates who display self-belief, determination and perseverance to achieve their goals.
