Australian Athletes with a Disability

April-May 2004

AAWD Board Member Profile - Liz Pollock

Liz Pollock started recreational activities with wheelchair athletes whilst working in rehabilitation in 1980 when she had a large group interested in wheelchair basketball. Liz arranged for Don Perriman to come out and give some guidance and from there they used to ferry people from the Rehabilitation Centre to a basketball competition each Thursday evening.

Liz then became involved with the Wheelchair Basketball Association and Wheelchair Sports Victoria. Liz has been:

- Involved with National Wheelchair Games from 1981;
- Team Manager for Victorian Teams from 1984 to 1994.
- Wheelchair Sports Victoria Board Member from the mid to late 1980s.
- Wheelchair Sports Australia Board Member 1995 to 2003
- APC Board Member 2001

As an athlete Liz participated at national level in volleyball, and now is an International Referee for volleyball.

Liz has always been keen to have sport for people with disabilities identified as sport with the same opportunities for funding etc. as other sports and for athletes and administrators within the disability movement to understand what that means.

Liz is also keen to ensure integration into National Sporting Organisations where appropriate and beneficial, but she recognises there is a need to balance the capacity of NSOs with the needs of our athletes, i.e. strategic partnerships between disability sporting organisations and National Sporting Organisations are the key, not one body or the other maintaining total control.

SPORTS NEWS

Basketball

- National Wheelchair Basketball League

The 2004 season of the National Wheelchair Basketball League has commenced. For results and fixtures visit http://nwbl.sports.org.au/

-- NRMA Insurance National League

Rounds one and two have now been completed of the 2004 season of the NRMA Insurance National League. Currently there is a three-way tie for the lead with the Knox Ford Raiders, the Hills Hornets and the North's Bears on eighteen competition points each! The Queenslanders are currently in fourth position.

-- International Wheelchair Basketball Federation

Chief Classifier Tournament Technical Committee Commissioner Referees

Don Perriman Matt Wells Greg Love Sharon Arnold Barry Spicer

The Rollers have been drawn in pool A for the Paralympics together with Brazil, Great Britain, Italy, France and Canada. The Gliders have also drawn pool A with USA, Great Britain and the Netherlands.

- 2004 Junior Basketball Championships

Noel Rowsell reports Western Australia has taken the gold medal at the 2004 National Junior Wheelchair Basketball Championships, which were held in Penrith, NSW from 17th to 22nd April, recording a 91-65 win over New South Wales in the grand final.

Queensland took the bronze medal in the championships, defeating Victoria in the playoff for third and fourth positions, while the USA took the international teams title, defeating New Zealand 101-34 in their grand final.

The game between Australia and the USA was an enthralling contest, with West Australian Shaun Norris starring for Australia but just failing to lift his team across the line as the Americans survived a late scare to win by just two points, 91-89.

Handcycling

After the recent Handcycling Nationals held in Perth, Andrew Budge, the National Handcycling Coach announced the National Handcycling Development Squad. Athletes in the squad are:

When making the announcement Andrew Budge congratulated each of the athletes and said he hoped he would will see them representing Australia in the green and gold before to long!

Lawn Bowls

The results of the National Lawn Bowls Championships held in Brisbane are as follows:

Sitting Volleyball

Sitting volleyball has announced there will be a national sitting volleyball training camp held in Melbourne, 29-30 May 2004.

The National Sitting Volleyball Coach (Wei Ping) and Manager (Glenn Stewart), as well as many of the national team and squad will be attending the camp, and any and all interested Melbournians (or others of course!!), are invited to participate!

The camp will be at Royal Talbot, Kew, and will be on Saturday 29 May and Sunday morning 30th May. For further information contact the office of AAWD.

Swimming

The Excell team to compete at the Czech Open Swimming Championships to be held 1-6 June 2004 has been announced:

The staff members for the trip are John Ornsby and Kylie Wood.

Good luck to all athletes!

Wheelchair Rugby

Round one of the National Wheelchair Rugby League was held in Sydney 29 April - 2 May 2004. The home team, New South Wales, led by their Captain/Coach Brett Boylan finished the round undefeated. Round two of the League will be held in Adelaide 25 -27 June 2004. For further information visit http://rugby.sports.org.au/

Table Tennis

Final preparations are under way for the Table Tennis Australia National Championships for Athletes with a Disability to be held in Sydney 21-23 May 2004. Contact AAWD for further information.

May & June Calendar of Events

May
3-9 Rugby Super Series Sydney, NSW
8-9 Basketball NWBL Round 2 Various
15-16 Basketball NWBL Round 3 Various
21-23 Table Tennis TTA Nationals Sydney, NSW
22-23 Basketball NWBL Round 4 Various
29-30 Basketball NWBL Round 5 Various

June
3-13 Lawn Bowls IPC World Championships Malaysia
1-6 Swimming Czech Nationals Czech
5-6 Basketball NWBL Round 6 Various
10 Athletics New York 10K New York, USA
18 Multisport Wheelchair Sports Victoria Annual Presentation Dinner Melbourne, Victoria
25-27 Rugby National League Adelaide, SA
26-27 Basketball NWBL Round 7 Various

Correct at time of print.