Iโm from Manus Island, a beautiful small island province of Papua New Guinea. Soccer and volleyball were the popular sports played across the island and so growing up I played these regularly. I moved to the capital in 1993 and found myself playing soccer and volleyball and also discovered cricket so I played all these sports. In 2003, I was fascinated with weightlifting after watching it on television during the Pacific Games in Fiji. I approached a weightlifting coach after the Pacific Games and I started powerlifting. Iโm a multiple Papua New Guinea and Pacific Games champion and record holder in powerlifting.
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I was engaged with gymnastics as a coach. One activity day at the Redcross Centre, we had Badminton PNG run its session and thatโs where I first saw badminton. I thought it was a different type of tennis but when I saw the shuttlecock I was confused as to what kind of racket sport this was as it had a funny and weird looking ball!
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When gymnastics and badminton combined to form GymBad under the Team Up programme I took up Shuttle Time training to help me understand the sport better. Itโs a fun sport to play with the kids. I enjoy it so much when I train with our PWD (People With Disabilities) participants.
Badminton has given me the opportunity to work with people of different backgrounds. Seeing changes in the mobility of special needs children is a positive I will always cherish.
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I have been in the sport industry for so many years and I havenโt seen a sport as supportive as badminton. Inclusive GymBad supports our Para athletes really well and helps them achieve their full potential.
In my professional sport I deal with able-bodied athletes but with the GymBad programme it is inclusive. I train and work alongside Para athletes with various disabilities and they inspire and motivate me a lot to keep pushing forward.
Badminton does not require a big setup so it is always easy to run in my community. As it isnโt a famous sport people are always curious, and they enjoy it when they try it. I see this sport growing big. We just need to build more awareness.
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I wouldnโt be able to run my community session or coach well if it wasnโt for Shuttle Time. Shuttle Time has helped children and our athletes with disabilities (PWD) stay active. The biggest lesson from Shuttle Time is – Make it simple and make it fun!
