Brisbane Roar’s national championship-winning Powerchair team will be presented to the crowd at the club’s Hyundai A-League match against Newcastle Jets at Suncorp Stadium on Friday, 12 February.
The presentation will be part of the Queensland Powerchair Football Association’s involvement that evening in the Roar’s new Match Day Community Partnership Program, which was launched yesterday.
The Roar Powerchair side won the national crown against sides from five other Hyundai A-League clubs earlier this month with a comprehensive 8-0 win over Central Coast in the final after going through undefeated in the qualifying rounds.
They also retained the Foundation Cup, an annual contest against Western Sydney Wanderers, with a 3-0 victory following last season’s 6-0 inaugural win.
The Brisbane Roar Powerchair squad is: 2. Tristram Peters; 5. Mark Warren; 6. Tom Dickson; 10. Josh Merkas; 11. Bryce Castles; 25. Brennan Smoothy. They were coached by Tim Merkas.
Team captain Tristram Peters said winning the national title was the culmination of a lot of hard work and training by the players with plenty of encouragement and help from their supporters.
“Everything clicked in the final,” he said.
“We expected it to be much closer with everything we had been working on in training came to fruition.
“It was a lot of fun and the whole tournament was a tribute to the achievements of people with disabilities.”
The Powerchair boys are not resting on their laurels.
They have begin preparing for the title defence at the next national tournament, tentatively scheduled for October at a venue to be decided.
There are also plans afoot to launch a three or four team South East Queensland-based competition that would be a feeder into the Roar squad for the next nationals.
The Queensland Powerchair Football Association will hold a registration day on Saturday, 23 January at Inala PCYC, 37 Swallow Street, Inala, from 11am to 3pm. For more details see facebook.com/qldpfa/
“We come such a long way in a very short time and we really thank the support we have received from Brisbane Roar club and their fans,” Tristram said.
