"Players in Christchurch and Auckland have been involved in the sport for years, however the only competition they had was interclub. In order to get access to tournaments, players had to travel to Australia to compete."
It is an open, non-graded tournament with mixed gender, mixed ages and various experience levels.
Parafed Waikato Powerchair Football team is coached by David Ireland and consists of Liam Gleeson, Liam Berry, Cian Wackrow, Will van Vroonhoven, Alex Buchan, Jesse Buchan and Tyrone Cooke.
The sport is so new to the team members that they are still seeking funding for the athletes to have the appropriate sports chairs.
"It is a new sport in our region.
"It began late last year in the Waikato through Parafed Waikato and team member Leigh Gleeson [Liam'smum]," Carol said.
Alex and Jesse Buchan both received their sports chairs, each valued at $10,000, earlier this month.
However, it took a collaborative effort from family members, Halberg Disability Sports Foundation's Activity Fund and funding from Wilson Home Trust.
This was also made possible by Auckland based manufacturers Unarmd Innovations who delivered the chairs in person.
The tournament is a part of Parafed Waikato's Activ8 series, which is in its third year.
"The idea behind the Activ8 series was to enable access to low cost, high quality local tournaments for people with physical disability.
"Parafed Waikato proudly does this with eight sports each calendar year," Carol said.
Teams competing in the tournament are from Auckland, North Auckland, Waikato and the Bay of Plenty.
The winning team will receive the Tichemja Trust Activ8 Trophy, as well as individual medals for the players.
Prizes have also been donated from Unarmd Innovations.
"We hope to host a Powerchair Football nationals in 2017 with support from Powerchair Football New Zealand," Carol said.
