Victoria’s best powerchair footballers will be representing Melbourne City Powerchair team in Sydney this week, competing in the Australian Club Championships.
The team will compete across six days in a round-robin format against eight other clubs culminating in a finals series to crown the best club in the country. No club outside NSW has won the title but this year represents the strongest Victorian team that will travel to Sydney for the annual event.
The team features starting players from the Melbourne City team who won the Victorian Powerchair Premiership this year supported by two key signings from South Melbourne FC. This group includes three players who have been trialing as part of an extended Australian Poweroos squad vying for selection for this year's 2023 FIPFA World Cup in October.
Melbourne City FC Captain Luke David said every year Victoria travels and competes in the Australian Club Championships, the results continue to improve.
"Last year we missed out on finals only on goal difference finishing in fifth. This year, we are looking to be better and feature in the finals with the aim of winning the competition," he said.
“Thanks to the support of Football Victoria and sponsors Support Your Way, we have been able to train weekly at Melbourne Sports Centres Parkville for the last six months to prepare for this tournament. Our players have been developing increasingly under Australian assistant coach Robert Wright.”
Team Manager Skip Fulton expects an "action-packed week" of powerchair football for the squad.
"Some players will have a three-day training camp with the national squad, a one-day break and then straight into six days of competition. The favorites for the competition will be the reigning champions Newcastle Jets and the Western Sydney Wanderers who have recruited strongly bringing in two international-standard marquee players.”
The Australian Powerchair Football Club Championships runs Tuesday to Sunday at the QuayCentre in Sydney. It will be live streamed with matches appearing on the Australian Powerchair Football Association YouTube page.