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Mangawhai’s Brennan Massey, 16, has been named MVP by his team after scoring the goal that took them to victory in the New Zealand Powerchair Football Nationals in April.
The North Auckland Rebels powerchair football team took the national title in a nail-biting final in Taupo against rivals Canterbury Boltz.
“It’s the first time that North Auckland has won the nationals, which has been dominated by Canterbury for the last three years,” Brennan says.
The score was nil-nil at half time, but Brennan managed to score a ‘runaway goal’ in the second half, sending the ball straight through a gap in Canterbury’s defence and in between the sticks.
Now Brennan and his teammates are heading to Sydney for the Fédération Internationale de Powerchair Football Association (FIPFA) Asia Pacific qualifiers, which will see them play against teams from Australia, Japan, Hong Kong, South Korea, India and Singapore.
Brennan says it will be a tough competition against countries that are better resourced and have significantly more players to draw from, but he hopes the Kiwi team will do well enough to qualify for the 2021 FIPFA World Cup, which will take place in Australia.
Powerchair football is played in specifically designed chairs that have a 30cm cage around the feet, and a top speed of 10kms for getting around a space the same size as a regulation basketball court.
“It can get pretty rough out there, but the rules state that the ball has to be between you and another player before you can engage in a tussle for control,” Brennan says.
There is also a rule that no more than one player from each team may engage with the ball at a time, and players that violate this are penalised with a free kick awarded to the other team.
Brennan says the rules put an emphasis on team placement throughout the court.
“You have to rely heavily on teammates, and it’s more about passing the ball around than it is dribbling, with the majority of strategy being set plays.”
“Teams run a centre, two wings, and a goalie. Typically, you will have an open player in the corner waiting for a centre to pass them the ball so they can score.”
Teams usually have eight players and select four to play at any time during the 40-minute match of two halves.
The North Auckland Rebels are trying to secure sponsorship to cover some of their costs. These include $30,000 ‘strike force’ powerchairs imported from the USA, plus the cost of eight players travelling with two chairs each to compete internationally.
“It can be difficult to find an airline that will agree to transport two wheelchairs per person. We usually have to get around their policy by documenting one the chairs as sporting equipment.”
But Brennan recommends getting involved and says the sport suits anyone who is in a wheelchair that wants to play a high adrenalin team-based game.
“It’s a lot more fun than playing bocce,” he says.
