00:00:13
S1: This is the joint broadcast between Radio Adelaide and Vision Australia Radio at the Atsa Independent Living Expo, which is at the Showgrounds in the Jubilee Pavilion. It's really it's really cool. I'm here with Noela. You're doing two sports.
00:00:30
S2: I am doing two sports. Somehow. I'm sitting on two booths at the same time today.
00:00:34
S1: Yeah, I saw your note on the on the horsey booth. Yeah, that said call now and more info.
00:00:41
S2: Give me a call.
00:00:42
S1: Yeah, well, you could have said I'm there. I'm over at the at the para hockey thing as well.
00:00:47
S2: That's a good idea. I can put that on the note as I go back.
00:00:49
S1: Come and see me at para hockey.
00:00:51
S2: Yeah.
00:00:51
S1: And bring your horse.
00:00:52
S2: Weirdly enough, the sports transitioned very well into each other.
00:00:55
S1: How is that?
00:00:56
S2: Well, it's it's balance, isn't it? So on a horse, you've got to be honest, as a rider, um, I'm above knee amputee, so I physically have more weight on one side to the other. So I have to be balanced for my horse so that you don't injure them, you don't hurt them and you can perform at your best. Hockey's no different. You're working down to skating on two blades about an inch and a half apart. So it is. It's all about balance for both sports.
00:01:20
S1: Can can I if you don't mind me asking and you can, you can poke me in the eye if you want. Right. But do you have you're you're a right leg amputee. Correct. And you've got a prosthetic a prosthetic at the bottom half of your right leg. Do you have like a special adaption for for skating?
00:01:39
S2: No, no. So so for ice hockey, for para ice hockey, we actually use sleds and we sit down, right? So we are not allowed to use our prosthetics because apparently to the rules they're weapons. I don't quite understand how that works because.
00:01:51
S1: We hit someone with it.
00:01:53
S2: They're completely strapped in, so I don't quite get that. But it's in the rules. So we take all our legs off. They stay on the sidelines. Um, and then yeah, we use a sled. So we're about, I don't know, about five inches off the ice.
00:02:04
S1: Close to the ground.
00:02:05
S2: Very much so much easier. Like less to fall. I don't understand how uprights do it. Like that's a long way to fall. I don't have far. You just go. Boop!
00:02:13
S1: Is that what you call them? Upright?
00:02:14
S2: Well, I don't I don't know if that's politically correct, but.
00:02:17
S1: We don't.
00:02:17
S2: Care. Well, that's what they're physically doing. They're standing upright, standing up. Yeah, I'm. Sit down. They're upright. I don't know if it's right or not, but we'll go with it.
00:02:24
S1: So I mean I've seen ice hockey games. Yeah. I've never seen para hockey.
00:02:29
S2: It's a newer sport. And for Australia it's very much like you know, Jamaican bobsled team kind of style. Yeah. It's not the common sport you would expect for Australia. Um it's been running since, well we used to have a group back in the mid to late 90s. Um, and that faded out. And then it started up again in 2021. I think it was just post Covid.
00:02:53
S1: So what do you like about Australian sports people? No, just say what you like. It's okay. Oh, that's that's the end of it. No, but we I do find that there's always an Australian for whatever sport. Yeah. Somebody puts their hand up.
00:03:07
S2: Absolutely.
00:03:08
S1: I've got this sport now. We've got fireball. Right. We're we're playing soccer with a ball that's on fire, right?
00:03:15
S2: I think Australians are pretty much into anything, so just go with it. Yeah. It's good fun and hockey's great. Like I like I said I'm equestrian first and that's very much you know, you're in your you're in a team, but with your horse and you're in your own lane and your own space, and then you go into hockey and you work out, if you like the sport, the moment that you have your first contact. Um, I really worked out that I like to hit people legally, properly.
00:03:40
S1: Inappropriate manners within the lines.
00:03:42
S2: Within the lines. Yeah. Because, uh, you'd get in trouble otherwise, so.
00:03:47
S1: Well, it looks like such a nice, gentle, quiet soul. And then it turns out that you're violent.
00:03:52
S2: Yeah, it only comes out on the ice.
00:03:55
S1: Yeah, but hockey is generally known as being a violent sport.
00:03:58
S2: Absolutely. It is an aggressive, aggressive type of sport. And just because we're power and just because we're in sleds does not mean it's any less really. Yeah. Yeah. The Paralympics have just been on um For all winter sports. And, um, yeah, the, I think it was the Czech Republic versus Canada game that got some great penalties. Oh really? It got pretty hectic.
00:04:23
S1: So did Australia take a team?
00:04:24
S2: No. So there's different divisions. Um when we're talking um that sort of stream it's a mixed team. So we have men and women play but it's not even men and women. Um, and that has a SI pool, which is like your intro to international. And that's where Australia sits people. And then a pool is the people that are playing at the Paralympics level. So we're Australia is very new to it. Yeah. We took a team in 2024 to Thailand to see pool. And then um like I said, the Division of men and women's a bit. How'd you do. So now we're actually pushing for, uh, women's game to be in the Paralympics. Um, yeah. And we had our first world championships last year and Australia was a part of that. So yeah, us women are probably more likely to get to the Paralympics in the long run than where Australia mixed team is at, so.
00:05:17
S1: Oh really? So we've got women's team, men's team mixed team.
00:05:21
S2: Uh, women's mixed.
00:05:22
S1: Oh women's then mixed. Yeah. Right. Is that because there's not enough blokes want to be violent?
00:05:26
S2: No, we have enough blokes. It's just because there isn't a women's team. You have to add them in. We've got to have women a part of it.
00:05:33
S1: Okay.
00:05:34
S2: So we can still skate just as hard as the blokes.
00:05:37
S1: I don't doubt it for a moment. I wasn't thinking such a thing. Please don't let it hurt me.
00:05:41
S2: No, no, no, no, we're not on the ice. It's fine. We're safe.
00:05:45
S1: Here. Does everybody make up and have a drink afterwards, or do you hate each other afterwards?
00:05:50
S2: No, no. Like it's fun. You actually end up especially in training, like you practice contact and you play the sport and someone steals the puck off you and you get frustrated and then you're like, nah, it's all right. It's nearly instantly over. Like, yeah, it's good.
00:06:04
S1: It sounds wonderful.
00:06:05
S2: I like it. I didn't realize I would like it, but really?
00:06:08
S1: Yeah. What made you try it?
00:06:10
S2: Just to come and go. Have a try. Um. I was born with a physical disability from birth. Not the amputation. Just the whole leg didn't work properly. And ice skating was never an option for me. Standing upright, it just. I couldn't physically do it. It wasn't safe. All the things.
00:06:27
S1: Did you have to sit on the sidelines at people's birthday parties? Yeah, I went to the ice rink.
00:06:30
S2: Or they go and put you in the kiddie sled and try and push you around.
00:06:33
S1: That's me.
00:06:34
S2: Yeah. I didn't love it. I enjoyed it at the time. So then when I saw this flyer, I've come and have a go. I was like, I just want to skate. I want to know what that feeling feels like. Very cool. And then I had my first contact and then I got hooked. And I haven't been out of it since.
00:06:49
S1: Somebody smashed you in the face. Oh, this is the thing for me.
00:06:52
S2: Oh, they or they, like, challenge you to the puck and you're like, no, that's mine, not yours. And you just get this like, yeah, competitive nature. And it's good fun.
00:07:00
S1: Maybe, maybe it's time for you to combine the two and do para polo.
00:07:05
S2: Para polo. Look, they do snow polo do they on horses. Yeah.
00:07:10
S1: Snow polo.
00:07:11
S2: Yeah. Outdoors in the snow. Yeah.
00:07:14
S1: But not para.
00:07:15
S2: Not para. No.
00:07:16
S1: Okay, okay. No, I mean, that's a bit tough on the horses, isn't it? Being in the snow, the horses.
00:07:23
S2: If they're if they're born into it, they get used to it. Okay. Yeah.
00:07:26
S1: Okay.
00:07:26
S2: I'm sure if you took an Australian horse into the snow, it might be a little bit different, but. Poor thing. Yeah, a bit of a culture shock, but no, overall they're pretty.
00:07:34
S1: How do you get in touch with you if they if they want to, if they want to do uh, para dressage or if they want to do para hockey, apart from coming here and they've got all day today and all day tomorrow.
00:07:45
S2: They do, we have another come and have a go in the para sleds tomorrow as well. I think it's like 915. So if anyone wants to have a go on the carpet we can give it a go. Um, mainly by social media Facebook pages. So we've got for ice hockey, uh, falcons para ice hockey I think is the tag. And then for para dressage it is um para equestrian South Australia. Right.
00:08:10
S1: Fantastic. And you're definitely, um, a, an advocate for this.
00:08:16
S2: Definitely.
00:08:17
S1: You just want new people to.
00:08:18
S2: Yeah.
00:08:19
S1: To come and hit.
00:08:20
S2: Well, not even like come and ride a horse like it doesn't matter. I just, I love the escape that you get from your mobility aids with these sports. You know, you get on it. For me, I could never walk unaided on without crutches. So to get on a horse meant that I could leave that and become quite able in myself. And I get the same sensation from ice hockey. That's without hitting someone that's just. Just skating on ice is very free.
00:08:46
S1: To you with the I love to hit people brush.
00:08:48
S2: I do that to myself, but I do enjoy just the skating and the movement of it. It's. It's a cool feeling to have.
00:08:55
S1: It's brilliant. I'm going to keep an eye out and come and watch one do it. Definitely.
00:08:58
S2: Sunday, Sunday nights, uh, 6:00 fortnightly at the Ice Arena for ice hockey. Yeah.
00:09:04
S1: Thanks very much for coming in.
00:09:05
S2: No worries. Thanks for.
00:09:06
S1: Chatting. Joy to talk to talk to you. Cheers, mate.
S1: This is the joint broadcast between Radio Adelaide and Vision Australia Radio at the Atsa Independent Living Expo, which is at the Showgrounds in the Jubilee Pavilion. It's really it's really cool. I'm here with Noela. You're doing two sports.
00:00:30
S2: I am doing two sports. Somehow. I'm sitting on two booths at the same time today.
00:00:34
S1: Yeah, I saw your note on the on the horsey booth. Yeah, that said call now and more info.
00:00:41
S2: Give me a call.
00:00:42
S1: Yeah, well, you could have said I'm there. I'm over at the at the para hockey thing as well.
00:00:47
S2: That's a good idea. I can put that on the note as I go back.
00:00:49
S1: Come and see me at para hockey.
00:00:51
S2: Yeah.
00:00:51
S1: And bring your horse.
00:00:52
S2: Weirdly enough, the sports transitioned very well into each other.
00:00:55
S1: How is that?
00:00:56
S2: Well, it's it's balance, isn't it? So on a horse, you've got to be honest, as a rider, um, I'm above knee amputee, so I physically have more weight on one side to the other. So I have to be balanced for my horse so that you don't injure them, you don't hurt them and you can perform at your best. Hockey's no different. You're working down to skating on two blades about an inch and a half apart. So it is. It's all about balance for both sports.
00:01:20
S1: Can can I if you don't mind me asking and you can, you can poke me in the eye if you want. Right. But do you have you're you're a right leg amputee. Correct. And you've got a prosthetic a prosthetic at the bottom half of your right leg. Do you have like a special adaption for for skating?
00:01:39
S2: No, no. So so for ice hockey, for para ice hockey, we actually use sleds and we sit down, right? So we are not allowed to use our prosthetics because apparently to the rules they're weapons. I don't quite understand how that works because.
00:01:51
S1: We hit someone with it.
00:01:53
S2: They're completely strapped in, so I don't quite get that. But it's in the rules. So we take all our legs off. They stay on the sidelines. Um, and then yeah, we use a sled. So we're about, I don't know, about five inches off the ice.
00:02:04
S1: Close to the ground.
00:02:05
S2: Very much so much easier. Like less to fall. I don't understand how uprights do it. Like that's a long way to fall. I don't have far. You just go. Boop!
00:02:13
S1: Is that what you call them? Upright?
00:02:14
S2: Well, I don't I don't know if that's politically correct, but.
00:02:17
S1: We don't.
00:02:17
S2: Care. Well, that's what they're physically doing. They're standing upright, standing up. Yeah, I'm. Sit down. They're upright. I don't know if it's right or not, but we'll go with it.
00:02:24
S1: So I mean I've seen ice hockey games. Yeah. I've never seen para hockey.
00:02:29
S2: It's a newer sport. And for Australia it's very much like you know, Jamaican bobsled team kind of style. Yeah. It's not the common sport you would expect for Australia. Um it's been running since, well we used to have a group back in the mid to late 90s. Um, and that faded out. And then it started up again in 2021. I think it was just post Covid.
00:02:53
S1: So what do you like about Australian sports people? No, just say what you like. It's okay. Oh, that's that's the end of it. No, but we I do find that there's always an Australian for whatever sport. Yeah. Somebody puts their hand up.
00:03:07
S2: Absolutely.
00:03:08
S1: I've got this sport now. We've got fireball. Right. We're we're playing soccer with a ball that's on fire, right?
00:03:15
S2: I think Australians are pretty much into anything, so just go with it. Yeah. It's good fun and hockey's great. Like I like I said I'm equestrian first and that's very much you know, you're in your you're in a team, but with your horse and you're in your own lane and your own space, and then you go into hockey and you work out, if you like the sport, the moment that you have your first contact. Um, I really worked out that I like to hit people legally, properly.
00:03:40
S1: Inappropriate manners within the lines.
00:03:42
S2: Within the lines. Yeah. Because, uh, you'd get in trouble otherwise, so.
00:03:47
S1: Well, it looks like such a nice, gentle, quiet soul. And then it turns out that you're violent.
00:03:52
S2: Yeah, it only comes out on the ice.
00:03:55
S1: Yeah, but hockey is generally known as being a violent sport.
00:03:58
S2: Absolutely. It is an aggressive, aggressive type of sport. And just because we're power and just because we're in sleds does not mean it's any less really. Yeah. Yeah. The Paralympics have just been on um For all winter sports. And, um, yeah, the, I think it was the Czech Republic versus Canada game that got some great penalties. Oh really? It got pretty hectic.
00:04:23
S1: So did Australia take a team?
00:04:24
S2: No. So there's different divisions. Um when we're talking um that sort of stream it's a mixed team. So we have men and women play but it's not even men and women. Um, and that has a SI pool, which is like your intro to international. And that's where Australia sits people. And then a pool is the people that are playing at the Paralympics level. So we're Australia is very new to it. Yeah. We took a team in 2024 to Thailand to see pool. And then um like I said, the Division of men and women's a bit. How'd you do. So now we're actually pushing for, uh, women's game to be in the Paralympics. Um, yeah. And we had our first world championships last year and Australia was a part of that. So yeah, us women are probably more likely to get to the Paralympics in the long run than where Australia mixed team is at, so.
00:05:17
S1: Oh really? So we've got women's team, men's team mixed team.
00:05:21
S2: Uh, women's mixed.
00:05:22
S1: Oh women's then mixed. Yeah. Right. Is that because there's not enough blokes want to be violent?
00:05:26
S2: No, we have enough blokes. It's just because there isn't a women's team. You have to add them in. We've got to have women a part of it.
00:05:33
S1: Okay.
00:05:34
S2: So we can still skate just as hard as the blokes.
00:05:37
S1: I don't doubt it for a moment. I wasn't thinking such a thing. Please don't let it hurt me.
00:05:41
S2: No, no, no, no, we're not on the ice. It's fine. We're safe.
00:05:45
S1: Here. Does everybody make up and have a drink afterwards, or do you hate each other afterwards?
00:05:50
S2: No, no. Like it's fun. You actually end up especially in training, like you practice contact and you play the sport and someone steals the puck off you and you get frustrated and then you're like, nah, it's all right. It's nearly instantly over. Like, yeah, it's good.
00:06:04
S1: It sounds wonderful.
00:06:05
S2: I like it. I didn't realize I would like it, but really?
00:06:08
S1: Yeah. What made you try it?
00:06:10
S2: Just to come and go. Have a try. Um. I was born with a physical disability from birth. Not the amputation. Just the whole leg didn't work properly. And ice skating was never an option for me. Standing upright, it just. I couldn't physically do it. It wasn't safe. All the things.
00:06:27
S1: Did you have to sit on the sidelines at people's birthday parties? Yeah, I went to the ice rink.
00:06:30
S2: Or they go and put you in the kiddie sled and try and push you around.
00:06:33
S1: That's me.
00:06:34
S2: Yeah. I didn't love it. I enjoyed it at the time. So then when I saw this flyer, I've come and have a go. I was like, I just want to skate. I want to know what that feeling feels like. Very cool. And then I had my first contact and then I got hooked. And I haven't been out of it since.
00:06:49
S1: Somebody smashed you in the face. Oh, this is the thing for me.
00:06:52
S2: Oh, they or they, like, challenge you to the puck and you're like, no, that's mine, not yours. And you just get this like, yeah, competitive nature. And it's good fun.
00:07:00
S1: Maybe, maybe it's time for you to combine the two and do para polo.
00:07:05
S2: Para polo. Look, they do snow polo do they on horses. Yeah.
00:07:10
S1: Snow polo.
00:07:11
S2: Yeah. Outdoors in the snow. Yeah.
00:07:14
S1: But not para.
00:07:15
S2: Not para. No.
00:07:16
S1: Okay, okay. No, I mean, that's a bit tough on the horses, isn't it? Being in the snow, the horses.
00:07:23
S2: If they're if they're born into it, they get used to it. Okay. Yeah.
00:07:26
S1: Okay.
00:07:26
S2: I'm sure if you took an Australian horse into the snow, it might be a little bit different, but. Poor thing. Yeah, a bit of a culture shock, but no, overall they're pretty.
00:07:34
S1: How do you get in touch with you if they if they want to, if they want to do uh, para dressage or if they want to do para hockey, apart from coming here and they've got all day today and all day tomorrow.
00:07:45
S2: They do, we have another come and have a go in the para sleds tomorrow as well. I think it's like 915. So if anyone wants to have a go on the carpet we can give it a go. Um, mainly by social media Facebook pages. So we've got for ice hockey, uh, falcons para ice hockey I think is the tag. And then for para dressage it is um para equestrian South Australia. Right.
00:08:10
S1: Fantastic. And you're definitely, um, a, an advocate for this.
00:08:16
S2: Definitely.
00:08:17
S1: You just want new people to.
00:08:18
S2: Yeah.
00:08:19
S1: To come and hit.
00:08:20
S2: Well, not even like come and ride a horse like it doesn't matter. I just, I love the escape that you get from your mobility aids with these sports. You know, you get on it. For me, I could never walk unaided on without crutches. So to get on a horse meant that I could leave that and become quite able in myself. And I get the same sensation from ice hockey. That's without hitting someone that's just. Just skating on ice is very free.
00:08:46
S1: To you with the I love to hit people brush.
00:08:48
S2: I do that to myself, but I do enjoy just the skating and the movement of it. It's. It's a cool feeling to have.
00:08:55
S1: It's brilliant. I'm going to keep an eye out and come and watch one do it. Definitely.
00:08:58
S2: Sunday, Sunday nights, uh, 6:00 fortnightly at the Ice Arena for ice hockey. Yeah.
00:09:04
S1: Thanks very much for coming in.
00:09:05
S2: No worries. Thanks for.
00:09:06
S1: Chatting. Joy to talk to talk to you. Cheers, mate.
