Join the TRIPLE PLAY weekend of Blind Sports

May 19 & 20 to play Goalball, Futsal & Cricket

BLIND SPORTS NSW May 2018 Edition

Members have asked

for more sports to be

scheduled on the

same weekend and

Blind Sports NSW

have listened. On May

19 & 20 you can attend 3 big sporting

events on the calendar starting with the

DTM Cup for Junior, Youth and Develop-

mental Goalball players at ACPE located

at 10 Parkview Drive, Sydney Olympic

Park from 9:30am to 12:30pm. This will

be followed by Sydney City Cup from

12:30pm to 3:30pm for all senior and

youth players. At 5pm Blind Sports NSW

will host the first Vision FC v Shades

United Game of Futsal at Golden Goal in

Strathfield. A mini bus will be provided

from Goalball to Futsal. This is a mixed 7

a side game and will be the first of a 5

game series between the two teams in

2018. On the Sunday it’s GAME 2 of the

Ray Connor Variety Youth Blind Cricket Shield as THUNDER defend their game 1

victory over SIXES. This game will be played at Joe McAleer Park on Winten Dr,

Glendenning and will kick off at 10am. To register your interest in 1, 2 or all 3 of

these events, please click HERE.

Page 2 May 2018 Edition

Another AMAZING Vison Camp at Sydney Academy

of Sport sponsored by Uniting

The annual 2018 Vision Camp was held at Sydney Academy of Sport in Narrabeen and supported by Uniting through Ability Links, Charter Plus and ran in partnership with Sport NSW. There were 21 campers aged 11 through 18 years with Low Vision, Partial Deafness, Cerebral Palsy and Intel-lectual Disabilities who attended this year’s camp. So many great activities were scheduled but it all kicked off with a fun games night where the campers, councillors and families who attended for the first year thanks to the funding from Uniting played Family Feud, Uno, 5 Second Rule and Apples to Apples just to name a few before lights out on the Monday night. Tuesday was the first full day of activities and it started with Rock Climbing at the Brookvale Rock-house, this also saw the 2nd leg of the Adrenaline Rush program which was also funded by Uniting to take people with disabilities out of their comfort zone and have them try activities they normally wouldn’t do on their own. What a fun start this activity was with many campers going from the easi-est to the hardest climbing walls in the 2 hours we had there. From there we hopped on a Charter Plus bus and headed to Sydney Harbour for lunch and a quick snap in front of the Opera House and Harbour Bridge before again taking out Charter Plus bus to North Bondi Beach for the 3rd leg of Adrenaline Rush with the great instructors of “Lets Go Surfing”. Despite the wind and cooler tem-peratures an amazing time was had by all with amazing instructors from this great surfing institu-tion. It was back on the Charter Plus bus and back for Trivia night which saw 5 great rounds of knowledge and some very competitive parents v camper teams. Wednesday was all about Inclusion Sport as we started with Futsal, Hockey, quick lunch then T Ball, Tennis, Netball before we boarded the Charter Plus bus to Inflatable World which also acted as the last leg of our Uniting Adrenaline Rush project. The camper’s tore through all the obstacle courses and had so much fun just being free to be themselves and be part of the adventure which saw them again wall climb, cliff jump, and they even managed to tackle the big green balls which originated in the TV Show “Wipeout”. This was followed by some great Pizza and then some much needed sleep as much for the parents who also got into the Inflatable World courses much to their kid’s horror. Thursday saw Traditional Paralympic Sports of Goalball, Swimming & Athletics take centre stage with a discussion around classification and pathways being spoken about earlier in the week, this session will no doubt have Paralympic Athletes of the future. Athletics was followed by the first T20 Blast Thunder v Sixes game of Youth Blind Cricket being played with Thunder winning by 17 runs. There were run outs a plenty on hand but the campers all had fun and were enthusiastic while be-ing competitive. Sophie Amerongen 13yrs old won player of the match after steadying the innings for the Thunder with Tyson O’Neil. Thursday night is traditionally DISCO night with DJ MVP and this camp was no exception with good food, cordial and hits from the 70’s to 2018 being spun in the Archery Club. Standout performances to The Chicken Dance, Nutbush & Macarena were all notable.

Page 3 May 2018 Edition

The camp is as much about social interaction as it is about trying a range of adapted sport so the Disco Night is also a special event for the campers but also this time for parents who let their hair down and saw their children come out of their shell like never before in many cases. Friday saw AFL NSW/ACT come in to teach an hour adaptive play session where handballing, marking and kicking drills led into an adapted version of the game. The campers really enjoyed learning and playing a new sport as they did with Hockey which was also a first-time sport at the Vision Camp. A huge thank you to all the State Sporting Organisations who provided staff and came in to run inclusion sport sessions. Guide Dogs NSW/ACT then came in to speak about mobility training and techniques to get around and attend more sport and active recreation sessions for higher participation. Camp wrapped up and the feedback was this was the best camp ever. Once again a massive thank you to Uniting for their funding, Charter Plus for their transport, Sydney Academy of Sport staff for their help, Vision Australia for Chantelle who came in to support and Guide Dogs for Darren’s session. Most of all thanks to the volunteer camp counsellor team who again did an amazing job throughout the entire camp and to the campers and families who came in and were a part of what made this the best camp yet.

THANK

YOU

SPONSORS

Page 4 May 2018 Edition

INTRODUCING OUR NEW EXECUTIVE DIRECTORS

Melissa Perrine and Darren Moyle are our new Executive Direc-

tors of Blind Sports NSW. Mel just won 2 bronze medals in the

2018 Winter Paralympic Games in down hill skiing events while

Darren has recently moved to Sydney from Melbourne and

works as an O&M instructor for Guide Dogs NSW/ACT.

ADULT SPRING CAMP at Point Wolstoncroft

Blind Sports NSW welcomes initial expressions of interest from people with Blindness and Low Vi-

sion who are 18 years and older to attend our upcoming “Seeing is Believing Camp” at the beautiful

Point Wolstoncroft Sport and Recreation Centre at the top of the NSW Central Coast. The camp will

take place on August 3 to 5 and feature an activities day at the centre, discussion groups and a

range of active recreation events combined with social inclusion activities. Please send an initial

email to sophie.milton@blindsportsnsw.com.au or call Murray on 0427 186 734 for more infor-

mation. We want your feedback on what we do at camp which will start with either the bus pick up

from Strathfield Train Station or bus pick up at Morisset Train

Station if coming from up North. We will go into camp around

3pm on Friday, August 3rd and leave camp on Sunday August

6th around 2pm. The Activity Day will include either canoeing

or sailing then in the afternoon, archery or one of the other ac-

tivities on site. Sporting sessions will be Golf and Tennis plus

activities like Yoga sessions. We are interested in what discus-

sion groups you want and support at camp. So let us know and

we will all have an amazing time.

Page 5 May 2018 Edition

What an amazing first National Australian Blind Football training camp it was this past weekend at

Essendon Football Club in Melbourne, VIC. Over 20 participants trialed to be selected for the first

ever B1, 5 a side team and the first ever Vision Impaired Futsal Team to compete on the World

stage later this year. Coaches Michael, Igor & Stephanie assisted players with skills acquisition,

game play development and court orientation while staff support assisted

players, coaches and Australian Blind Football Coordinator David Connol-

ly through this great program initiative. The next camp will be in Sydney at

Valentine Sport Park in partnership with Football NSW on July 21 & 22.

Contact David football@blindsportsaustralia.com.au for more information

about how you can be-

come involved in this

amazing team sport that

has gained such great

support within Australia.

Entire Australian Blind

Football squad in picture.

PLAY ON THE NSW SWISH TEAM IN THE ACT THIS

MAY AT THE 2018 AUSTRALIAN SWISH CHAMPS

Blind Sports NSW are seeking expressions of interest to play for NSW in the upcoming 2018 Aus-

tralian Swish Championships to be held in ACT in late May. Blind Sports NSW are working with

RIDBC and Vision Australia to have a SWISH table available for team practice and also a competi-

tion day. Please contact Sophie Milton by email sophie.milton@blindsportsnsw.com.au to confirm

your interest and receive information about the upcoming events for SWISH. We are looking for a

singles male and female player, male and female doubles teams and mixed doubles teams. Total

costs and funding are still to be determined for the Australian Championships.

GET SOCIAL WITH BLIND SPORTS NSW IN 2018

ALL NEW CONTENT FROM VISION SPORTS CAMP now available

to watch on the Blind Sports NSW YouTube Channel. Just click below

to see all the great moments from vision camp and Adrenaline Rush.

BLIND SPORTS NSW YOUTUBE >

1st EVER BLIND FOOTBALL NATIONAL CAMP

Email: sophie.milton@blindsportsnsw.com.au

Web: www.blindsportsnsw.com.au (membership form & event registrations)

Phone: Sophie Milton, Program Manager - 0414 767 724 (MON, WED & THUR ONLY)

Phone: Murray Elbourn, CEO - 0427 186 734

Social Media: Search BlindsportsNSW

CONTACT US

Blind Sports NSW are very excited to announce that we have been

granted funding of $223,000 over two years through the NDIA. This

combined with our funding through NSW Office of Sport will signifi-

cantly change the programs we deliver and the support we can give

our great athletes who play for Australia and represent NSW proudly.

I am extremely enthusiastic that we have now turned the corner of

our association with the acceptance of the new constitution which

will allow the Executive Directors to work toward gaining charitable

status and deliver programs including WINTER adrenaline rush.

MEMO FROM THE CEO

THANK YOU SPONSORS & PARTNERS

(CEO) Murray Elbourn

Blind Sports NSW