Powered Wheelchairs for ACT Soccer
Canberra United’s Powerchair football team has received new sets of wheels, thanks to the generous efforts of Rotary and Capital Region Muscular Dystrophy.
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Powerchair football is a modified version of soccer for electric wheelchair users, including persons with quadriplegia, multiple sclerosis, muscular dystrophy, cerebral palsy, hand trauma, stroke, and other spinal cord injuries.
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In 2017, Capital Football and Capital Region Muscular Dystrophy joined forces to form a local Powerchair football team, with monthly training sessions and come and try days hosted twice a year.
Since then, the team has grown to eight players who train once a week, using generic electric wheelchairs with homemade modified bumpers.
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To help the team reach their full potential, Capital Football approached Rotary to ask for their assistance to raise over $120,000 for nine new Powerchairs to be bought from the United States.
Capital Football’s Game Development Manager Kelly Stirton said the new chairs will see Canberra United’s Powerchair team reach new heights.
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Rotary Club of Aurora Gungahlin (RCAG) chair John Platten said the club was delighted to raise money for the team.
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“As part of our Rotary Club Project, we wanted to provide funding assistance, so persons with disabilities in Canberra and surrounding districts can play Powerchair football competitively,” Mr Platten said.
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“Australia will be hosting the 2022 Powerchair Football World Cup so it would be great to see an ACT representative competing on the world stage.”
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To find out more about Powerchair Football go to
https://capitalfootball.com.au/game-development/powerchair-football/
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