New Zealand Team Confirmed For Arafura Games

Paralympics New Zealand is pleased to announce the team that will compete at the Arafura Games (incorporating the Oceania Paralympic Championships) in Darwin, Australia 9th - 17th May 2009.

The New Zealand Arafura Games team is a mixture of high performance and development athletes. Southland’s Jessica Hamill in the field events is the only athlete who competed at the Beijing Paralympics. Wheelchair tennis players Jacqueline Courtier and Tiffiney Perry both played at the Athens Paralympics with Courtier also at the Atlanta Paralympics in 1996.

Since 1991, Arafura Games has been held every two years in the capital of Australia's Northern Territory, Darwin. Unlike other Games, Arafura Games is not designed for current world beaters or Olympic champions, instead it provides a high quality stepping stone for athletes as part of their journey to compete at the highest level.

Arafura Games 2009 has 26 sporting disciplines. After the success of the inclusion of Oceania Paralympic Championships in Arafura Games 2007, Arafura Games 2009 will again host Paralympic events in eight sports.

The team is as follows:-

Athletics
Jessica Hamill (Southland)
Rebecca Hayman (Southland / Canterbury)
Daryl Humberstone (Canterbury)

Cycling
Samantha Eddie (Wellington)
Jonathan Nelson (Canterbury)

Shooting
Grant Philip (Canterbury)

Wheelchair Tennis
Tiffiney Perry (Waikato)
Jacqueline Courtier (Waikato)

Support Staff
Deb Shattock – Team Manager
Lynda O’Cain – Athlete & Coach Support
Raylene Bates - Athletics Coach
Aly Youngman – Athletics Coach
Tim O’Halloran – Cycling Support
Jill Philip – Shooting Support
Gail Cross – Medical Support