Participants talk through the benefits of playing in the AFL Wheelchair program. Plans are in place to bring the modified version of Australian rules football to Wollongong. Video supplied by AFL NSW/ACT
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00:00 Hi, my name's Denny Jeffrey. I'm from Marooba in Sydney and we're here today in the sunny Canberra
00:05 playing against a whole bunch of other teams in a club challenge for wheelchair AFL.
00:09 So I started playing wheelchair AFL only last year but I had a history of wheelchair sports
00:15 prior to that and I was actually a wheelchair tennis player on the circuit until
00:20 injury forced me off the circuit. Two years into my supposed retirement I got itchy feet so to
00:25 speak and jumped back in a wheelchair and discovered AFL last year. I lost my leg nearly
00:32 five years ago, heard about wheelchair AFL but there was nothing happening in the Illawarra which
00:37 is where I live so finally had the chance last year to have a go, ended up being the only one
00:43 that turned up so then decided to bite the bullet and drive up to Bankstown to participate in
00:49 training and we're now looking at setting up a hub in the Illawarra starting in about a month or so
00:54 so hopefully be able to train a little bit closer to home and bring some more people into the sport.
00:59 One of the greatest aspects of this sport is that we bring people from all walks of life.
01:04 Some people are only early days in a wheelchair for example or with a disability that prevents
01:10 them from being able to play a run on the field type sport so we bring them in and we introduce
01:14 them to the chair, we introduce them to the sport. They may be an AFL fan and they probably thought
01:18 wow I can never play AFL but we put them in a chair, we teach them the skills, we show them
01:22 that you can do it and they build their confidence. I think you need purpose in life. I work you know
01:30 full-time as well so this is a bit of an outlet for me but I also love the camaraderie and it's
01:35 great to catch up with the different people at the carnivals and whether it's at the championships or
01:40 just at these hubs and also yeah just to showcase your skills. I love the inclusiveness in the
01:46 wheelchair AFL and I love how it gives a chance for sort of the middle level players to actually
01:53 shine. It's great playing wheelchair AFL because anyone can play. It's just a fun sport to play
02:00 and makes me happy and everyone is just so friendly and welcoming. My dream for wheelchair AFL would
02:05 be to increase participation and overall and also for females as well so to see it grow more
02:14 over the next few years. So anyone's curious about wanting to know what wheelchair AFL is about just
02:18 come along to one of the hubs and have a go. Seriously you'll meet some great people and
02:22 you'll pick up some skills and you'll have some fun. It's there for everybody. You come in and
02:27 just try and push around a bit, learn the skills. It's a sport for everyone. It doesn't matter
02:32 whether you're disabled, it doesn't matter whether you're able-bodied, it doesn't matter how old you
02:35 are, it doesn't matter what your disability is, it doesn't matter who you are, what you do, come
02:39 and have a go. It's a fantastic sport and it rivals the on-field game. And you might find that you've
02:45 got a new sport that looks just like I do.
02:52 (clanging)
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