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12th April 2012

New Zealand Equestrian Team Named For London 2012 Paralympic Games
Paralympics New Zealand (PNZ) and Equestrian Sports New Zealand (ESNZ) have named the first two athletes to represent the nation at the London 2012 Paralympic Games.

Para dressage riders Rachel Stock (Pokeno) and Anthea Gunner (Rangiora) are the first New Zealand equestriennes to make the Paralympics in 8 years, since Jayne Craike at Athens in 2004.

More sports are set to release selections over the next couple of months, with the entire team named in early July. Chief Executive of Paralympics New Zealand, Fiona Allan, was delighted to announce the first team members.

For Grade three para dressage rider Rachel Stock getting the official nod to go to the London Paralympics is the first credible step in her dream of “actually bringing home that medal”.

Anthea Gunner is still coming to terms with being officially named in the New Zealand team. The 30-year-old from Rangiora, who was injured in a horse accident in 2006, has had a rapid rise to the top. After being paralysed from the waist down she bought her horse Huntingdale Incognito (Mask) in late 2007 and started competing in early 2008.

The former eventer and showjumper is thriving in the world of para dressage where she competes at grade two level. “I was never going to give up horses, and once I started riding again, I realised that maybe I could compete again and it has just grown from there.”
“To be named is just amazing. I knew we had done all that we needed to but just didn’t really think it would happen!”


Congratulations to ParaFed Canterbury’s Elite Scholarship Anthea Gunner! We look forward to watching your build up to the London 2012 Paralympic Games.


Records Galore For Paralympic Swimmer Pascoe
Christchurch swimmer Sophie Pascoe has secured her place in the New Zealand London Paralympic team with a series of world record-breaking performances in England.

Pascoe, 19, set three world marks and had three other best times at the British Disability championships in Sheffield which was a qualifying meeting for New Zealand Paralympic swimming hopefuls. All that is required now is official ratification of her place in the 2012 team.
Pascoe was in irrepressible form in spite of a heavy workload at the three-day championships. Her world records came in the 100m butterfly and the 100m freestyle. In the latter event she is now only a fraction of a second from breaking the magical minute barrier.

Pascoe's first record last weekend came in the 100m freestyle when she recorded 1min 00.37sec, taking 0.80sec off the old time. Her other record was in the 100m butterfly which she broke twice in the one day – in the heats in the morning and again in the final that night. Her heat time was 1min 6.27sec and her final time 1:5.66. In the two swims she lopped 1.91sec off the old record which she held.

The London 2012 Paralympic swim team won't be named until late June or early July, but Pascoe can plan her buildup to London now, including a high-altitude camp in Flagstaff, Arizona, in the weeks before the Paralympics.

Another team member, Auckland's Cameron Leslie, broke his own world record in the 150m individual medley, a record he set at the Beijing Paralympics. His time was 2min 30.78sec, 2.79sec inside his old time.


Shooters Compete In Australia
Michael Johnson, Grant Sharman and Grant Philip competed at the Australia Shooting Nationals held in Perth, Australia over the past week.

A summary of results are below:

R5 10m Air Rifle Prone Qual. Final Total Place

Michael Johnson 600 105.8 705.8 Gold

Grant Sharman   590 103.2 693.2 5th

Grant Philip        577 102.9 679.9 6th

R4 10m Air Rifle Standing Qual. Final Total Place

Michael Johnson 600 104.2 704.2 Silver

Grant Sharman   588 102.1 690.1 5th

Grant Philip        585 101.3 686.3 6th

To view a full set of results visit www.tra.org.au/nats2012/nats2012.html

2nd April 2012

Latest ParaFed Newsletter out now!


13th February 2012

Latest ParaFed Newsletter out now!


9th February 2012

Sophie Pascoe - Inaugural Halberg Disabled Sportsperson of the Year

Congratulations to Sophie Pascoe - inaugural winner of the Halberg Trust disabled sportsperson of the year award.

Pascoe said she was honoured to be the first ever recipient of the disabled award, emphasising its importance to New Zealanders' outlook on sport.
"I'm very humbled but this award means more than just my achievements, it's about recognising Paralympic sport," Pascoe said.
Graham Henry - Coach of the Year
Valerie Adams - Sportswoman of the Year
Richie McCaw - Sportsman of the Year
Jacko Gill - Emerging Athlete award
All Blacks - Team of the Year
All Blacks - SUPREME AWARD


7th February 2012

South Island Para-Equestrian Championships

The South Island Para-Equestrian Championships were held at McLeans Island National Equestrian Centre from Friday 3rd to Sunday 5th February.

Please click here for the Full results.       Check out our Photos

Grade 1 - Champion - Ilona Lawrence, Reserve - Mike Hamill

Grade 2 - Champion - Frances Dick, Reserve - Anthea Gunner

Grade 3 - Champion - Rachel Stock

Grade 4 - Champion - Jenny Affleck


2nd February 2012

Variety Gold Heart Scholarships ($5000) available now

Variety - The Children’s Charity wants to help Kiwi kids reach their full potential in education, music, art, and sport through its Gold Heart Scholarship programme. 
Applications are now open for the programme, which provides talented Kiwi kids who are sick, disabled or disadvantaged with $5,000 and matches them with a mentor to assist them to reach their goals. To apply children should already be at a high level in their field and show passion and commitment to achieve a long-term aspirational goal as demonstrated by significant achievements to date. 
Gold Heart Scholarships form part of Variety’s Future Kiwi Kids programme. The Variety Gold Heart Scholarship Programme makes up to $5,000 available per annum for up to three years to help children who are physically or financially challenged to fulfil their dreams. This could include assisting with tuition fees, personal development, coaching, and the purchase of training equipment, travel or accommodation. 
One of the unique aspects of the Scholarship is that each recipient is assigned a leading professional or celebrity mentor to encourage and support them throughout the year. 
Applications close on
March 31, 2012. 
  
For further information on application criteria or to download an application form, please 
CLICK HERE or call Denise Burke on (09) 520 4111.


Football Open Day for Youth with a Disability - 11.00 - 1.00pm 18th February  

ASB Football Stadium  - click here for information flyer


ParaFed Otago Fr Leo Close Memorial Games

25th February 2012 - Dunedin. Click here for Information & Entry form


12th December 2011

ParaFed Canterbury Christmas & Awards Function

The ParaFed Canterbury function was a succesfull  event celebrating ParaFed’s successes throughout the

2011 year.

Robin Haskell won First place in the ParaFed Art Awards.

Holly Robinson won the Junior Sports Person of the Year.

Sophie Pascoe was once again awarded the Sports Person of the Year award.

Full list of award winners                       Photos

5th December 2011

Sophie Pascoe wins Attitude Award

Christchurch Paralympic swimmer Sophie Pascoe was crowned sports performer of the year for the second

time at the Attitude Awards last night.
The awards celebrate the achievements of New Zealanders living with disabilities and have grown out of the Attitude television series, which screens on TVNZ.
Pascoe said last night's award was "special and humbling", even though it was the second time she had claimed the title sports performer of the year - in 2008 she won the same award.
The 18-year-old swimming champ broke two world records at the Pan Pacific para-swimming championships in Canada in August and said she "can't even remember how many medals" she came back with.
"Winning last night was actually very humbling because it was not just a sporting award. I was up against people that do completely different things," she said.

She is currently touring the North Island on swim camp with the Paralympics New Zealand Swim Team and has her sights set on the London Paralympics next year.
"All I can ask for is a personal best and hopefully that gets me on the podium," she said.


21st November 2011

Disabled Category Added to Halberg Awards
New Zealand's disabled athletes will be recognised with a new award at the 2011 Halberg Awards.
The Halberg Trust, which has organised the annual awards for almost 50 years, has introduced a Disabled Sportsperson of the Year category for the first time.
Disabled athletes have always been able to gain selection in the other categories with paraplegic archer Neroli Fairhall back in 1983, disabled alpine skier Rachael Battersby (2002) and disabled swimmer Sophie Pascoe (2008 and 2009) making Sportswoman category finalists.
But the Trust decided it was time for the growing number of this country's disabled athletes to have their own category for Halberg Award honours.

Classified disabled athletes and teams only are eligible for the award.
Nominations for the Halbergs close at the end of this month with the finalists named at the beginning of January 2012.

14th November 2011

Farewell Brian Monds
Early Saturday Brian Monds, that great servant of our family passed away suddenly. Administrator, Tall Black Manager, Wheelies Manager, Referee, Treasurer of the Wheelchair Board of Asia-Oceania, great lover of all Wheelchair sport, Brian was always in the midst of our game.
Basketball is a family game. Family is important at each level of the game from FIBA to our local Clubs.
Monzee as we all know him, has been in South Korea with the New Zealand Wheelchair basketball team and for the Zone Congress. He flew back to New Zealand on Saturday with the rest of the group, and died suddenly en route.

At the local level, Monzee was a long time President of the Hamilton Basketball Association, and then worked with the Waikato Basketball Council. An ardent supporter of Divisional basketball he developed the most successful regional competition in the country during the 1980′s and early 1990′s. He refereed throughout the region for decades. At the regional level he was the Treasurer of Basketball Pacific. Nationally he is a former member of the Board of BBNZ, Wheelchair Basketball, and the FIBA Asia-Oceania Wheelchair Zone. In recent time he was part of the organising group of the Oceania Youth Tournament, and a volunteer at the FIBA U19 World Championships.


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