Northland's Michelle Batchelor added another gold medal to her collection recently when she returned from the 2009 Australian Boccia Nationals.
Batchelor, the New Zealand champion in the Kiwi class for the past two years, competed in the open division at the Narrabeen-based national competition, near Sydney.
Her husband and team manager, Neale
Batchelor, said she was the sole New Zealand representative after last-minute withdrawals.
"Players are divided into classes depending on their abilities, which then determines what tournaments you are eligible to compete at," Batchelor said.
Neale Batchelor, who is also the vice-president for the Northland Boccia Association, said he was "reasonably" able-bodied and was, therefore, not eligible to compete at many events, so he spent the Australian tournament supporting his wife and refereeing games.
Michelle Batchelor's gold medal followed a silver medal won at the North Island Championships recently - a boost ahead of this weekend's Northland Boccia Championships.
Boccia players from around Northland will be in action at Kensington Stadium tomorrow, including 12-year-old Alex Dickson.
"Boccia is a paralympic sport and, while we haven't had any athletes from Northland go to the games before, Alex may be one to look out for in the future - he is up and coming in the sport," Batchelor said.
Competitors train for four hours a week for the sport, which includes people with any type of disability.
Northland Boccia are holding an open day in conjunction with the championships, where people are welcome to watch and learn more about the sport.
"We always need volunteers to help out as players use ramps and we need some help moving those around, and we always need more players," Batchelor said.
With the New Zealand Championships to be staged at Whangarei over Labour Weekend, organisers are hoping for a big turnout at the stadium.
Action kicks off tomorrow at Kensington Stadium at 9am, and concludes at 4.30pm.
