HELP MAKE 20 YEAR WORLD CUP DREAM A REALITY FOR BLUE MOUNTAINS PARAROO

A Blue Mountains teacher is on track to compete at the 2019 World Cup as part of The Australian Pararoos - 20 years after becoming one of the team’s founding members – but he and the team need your help.

Federal Member for Macquarie, Susan Templeman, met Winmalee Public School Assistant Principal, Chris Pyne, who has been a member of the team since he was 15, at a recent training day.

Despite competing at an international level, including at the Paralympics, the team has yet to compete at a World Cup.

“The Pararoos are Australia’s National Football team for athletes with cerebral palsy, acquired brain injury or symptoms acquired from stroke,” Ms Templeman said.

“Next month, the team will compete at the Asian Cup, which is a qualifier for the 2019 World cup,” she said. “If they qualify, it will be the first time the Pararoos compete at World Cup level.

“Chris has been with the team since its creation in 1999, when he was just 15 years old. Now almost 20 years later, he’s on track to achieve his dreams.

“He’s an amazing ambassador for his sport and people with disabilities.  He and the team deserve our support.

“I was lucky enough to attend the Pararoo’s open training day with a group of students from the Hawkesbury after they wrote to me about the team’s funding cuts.

“The students were worried that the Pararoos could miss out on competing in the 2019 World Cup if the team couldn’t raise enough money to get there,” she said.

“The Pararoos stopped receiving Federal funding in 2015 and now rely on fundraising to help achieve their goals of competing at an elite level.