Wheelchair Sports launched at Casey Stadium

October 10, 2018

Today, Disability Sport and Recreation and the City of Casey joined together to officially launch Wheelchair Sports at Casey Stadium.

Kaitlyn Frawley, Inclusion Team Leader for Casey Stadium, said she was ‘looking forward to seeing the access and inclusion that this will bring to the community and the opportunities that will come for people of all abilities.” It was also unveiled that Casey Stadium and Disability Sport and Recreation are in the planning stages for the first ever disability hub to be based at Casey Stadium.

As part of the launch, ten new sport wheelchairs have been provided with the support of Phillips Foundation and Disability Sport and Recreation. They will be housed at Casey Stadium and be available for use as well as for educating the community.

CEO of Disability Sport and Recreation, Richard Amon, emphasised the possibilities now open in the City of Casey and the accessibility to sport that Casey Stadium now offers. Amanda Stapledon, City of Casey councillor, was thrilled to have such an extensive program within the City of Casey and looked forward to seeing the wheelchairs and programs in action.

In front of an audience of students from St. Peters College, Peter Ogunyemi, captain of the Wheelchair AFL Hawthorn team, said the wheelchairs were more than just wheels, they were hope for many people. “They open up a whole new world of possibility and above all hope,” he said.

Once official proceedings were done, Ogunyemi took the students onto Casey Stadium’s show court and using the new wheelchairs, introduced them to Wheelchair Rugby and Wheelchair AFL, two of the sports to be trialled at Casey Stadium over the next year.

“Seeing this makes it all worthwhile,” Frawley said. “Building our inclusive programming with the support of partners like the City of Casey and Disability Sport and Recreation is a great step forward in making our city and sports more inclusive and accessible to everyone.”