~*Electric Wheelchair Sports*~

I play Electric Wheelchair Sports and really enjoy it. I am in a New Zealand Auckland Power Black Sports Team. I am the only 'feamle' player in the Power Blacks team, the youngest player is 11yrs old. I am also the Captian on the team.

Team Logo

I represent NZ and compete against the six states called Victoria Vipers, New South Wales Colts, Queensland Gladiators, Western Wasps, South Australia Scorpions and the ACT Wheelers of Australia in their National Electric Wheelchair Sports in Australia.

I play hockey, soccer and rugby. I have been competing in Australia for 11 years now. I have been to Canberra, Sydney, Adelaide, Melbourne, Perth and Brisbane. Last year 2004, I was among a group who were awarded a special badge for 10 years participation at the N.E.W.S tournament.

To be able to compete in N.E.W.S you need to have a Neuromuscular Condition and use a powerchair for every day mobility.

Hockey is similar to the average hockey games you see out there, except we use light plastic hockey sticks and a plastic ball. I am one of the forward wings so my job is to score some goals and it can get tricky at times, sometimes I have to lift the ball up and over the goalies hockey stick or footplates to score.

Balloon Soccer is played with a big balloon that the players header it around or use there chairs to hit it, ball can also pop too lol with a loud bang! My position in soccer is to stay back and feed the balloon to the rest of the team so they can score the goals.

Rugby is a full on game, you need to read ahead of the game and pass fast and score some tries. We don’t use a rugby ball, we wear bibs with numbers on it, and to pass the imaginary ball, you need to call the persons number, they then say ‘got it’ then they go for the tri line or get tackled.

Wheelchair sports is a huge part of my life, it’s a chance to build my confidence and compete with others of a similar age and condition, keeps me physically and mentally active, and gives me a great goal to work towards. My favorite sport is hockey, then balloon soccer then rugby.