The Tasmania Devils Wheelchair AFL team is ready to hit the court at the 2022 Wheelchair AFL National Championships, being held in Melbourne from 22-25 November – and you can see them in action.
For the first time, all states and territories in Australia are competing, along with two teams from the Australian Defence Force and a RSL team.
The Tassie team, coordinated by ParaQuad Tasmania, and supported by AFL Tasmania, recently received their representative tops. The team is (below, left to right), Mitch Stretton, Ben Winwood, Trent Johnson (Captin), Jack Anders and Jason Jinks (missing from this pic are Joe Chivers, Team Manager, and two Victorians who are joining the team, Riley Fitzgerald and Adam Georglin). AFL Tasmania’s Barry Gaby is also a manager of the team.
The team’s been together for practice (many are seasoned wheelchair AFL players) and are ready to give it their best shot.
In past national championships, the Tasmanian team has won two silver medals and a bronze.
The fixture for 2022 looks like this:
Day 1, Tuesday 22 November sees the Lightning Carnival. Each team will play 10 games for Division qualification.
Day 2, Wednesday 23 November sees a day full of games across two courts and the opening ceremony.
More Division Rounds will happen on Day 3, Thursday 24 November, before Finals Day on Friday 25 December.
The event, which is organised by Disability Sports Australia, in conjunction with the AFL, has a number of media partners which will provide coverage.
Click this link for information on who will be covering each match and how to stream.
The Nationals are being held at the Diamond Valley Sports and Fitness Centre in Greensborough, Melbourne. Tickets to see the event in person are free and available via Eventbrite.