FOOTBALL Federation Australia (FFA) Chief Executive Officer David Gallop recently announced a new philanthropic funding model for the Australian National Paralympic Football team, the Pararoos, in partnership with the Australian Sports Foundation (ASF).
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In July last year, Australia's Paralympic soccer team faced the axe, after all of its funding was cut by the Australian Sports Commission.
As part of Australia's Winning Edge policy, it was decided that funding would be directed to sports which have a higher chance of winning a medal at the Olympics or Paralympics.
The ASC decided the Pararoos' team world ranking of 10 (at the time) was not successful enough, and cut the team's $175,000 funding.
But under the recent announcements, the funding model will allow the resumption of the Pararoos program under the FFA National Team structure.
This will be done by leveraging the groundswell of support for the team and enabling the community to make tax deductible donations, in support of the Pararoos international competition pursuits.
In addition, it was announced that long-time assistant coach, Kai Lammert, has been appointed as the head coach of the Pararoos, while Socceroos legends Mark Bresciano and Mark Schwarzer have been named as special ambassadors for the Pararoos.
These developments are especially important for Pararoos member and former Callala Bay resident Ben Atkins.
“On an individual note, this is massive for me, as the past 18 months I haven’t had much to focus on except work and socialising,” 23-year-old Atkins said.
“Ever since I was 10-years-old I’ve had soccer in my life, especially with my involvement with the Pararoos.
“So the reintroduction of the funding is everything, as it has given back my direction on life.
“I feel as though I have a new lease on life as well as a new found confidence.
“And as a team, it gives us a chance to get back to doing what we do best, while giving ourselves a good name on the international stage.”
This announcement has been taken 18 months to be cleared up, but the timing couldn’t be better for Atkins and his team mates.
The Pararoos entered their first camp in months last weekend ahead of the 2015 CPIRSA World Championships in the United Kingdom in June.
“The World Cup is massive for us and is one of the biggest tournaments for me to date,” Atkins said.
“Not only does it act as the World Cup, but also the qualifications for the Rio Paralympics next year.
“We have drawn world number two Russia, world number six Ireland and Portugal who are below us in the world rankings.
“We are currently 12th in the rankings and the top two teams from each pool not only qualify for the next stage of the World Cup but also book a ticket to Rio.
“We know on our day we can mix it with anyone in the world, so it is up to us to train hard for the next two months, to achieve our Rio goal.”