Disabled athletes set to compete

Chloe Wickman

After taking out the title for wheelchair basketball at the 2013 New Zealand Youth Games, the Parafed Bay of Plenty junior wheelchair basketball team are back to try to claim a second win at the Junior Disability Games.

The games are a multi-sport event for young people with physical and visual disabilities.

The games run from next Friday, April 25, until Sunday April 27 and involve about 70 athletes in eight sport codes.

The opening ceremony will be at the newly-opened Avantidrome at 7pm on the Friday evening, this is free and open to the public.

The sports on offer include wheelchair basketball, para-cycling, athletics, boccia, waka-ama, adaptive rowing, water safety, swimming and triathlon.

Hosted in Waikato at St Peter's School, youth aged between 8 and 17 years will participate and compete in several different sports.

This year is the first time wheelchair basketball has been included as a competitive event.

The Bay of Plenty team are looking strong and, with the addition of a couple of new players, they will look to defeat teams from Auckland, Waikato, Taranaki and composite teams from across New Zealand.

Members of the Bay of Plenty team attend either the Monday night training in Tauranga or the Tuesday night training in Rotorua.

They come together to represent the Bay as a junior team but usually play and train with players of all ages.

The eight-person team includes Varian Dickson, who is also travelling to Anakiwa to be part of a Halberg Disability Sport Foundation-supported programme at Outward Bound in June.

For more information on the wheelchair basketball sessions in either Tauranga or Rotorua (open to all ages and abilities) contact Chloe Wickman on 0274265942 or parafedwaibop@halberg.co.nz