Episode 33: Sporting Careers

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0:00 Carers Queensland announcement: Sport is for everyone. Whether you’re playing for fun, competing seriously, watching from the grandstand or volunteering in the canteen, there’s a place for everybody and every ability in the sporting community.  Carers Queensland is running discussion groups and surveys to find out more from people with disability, families and carers: their experiences, thoughts, opinions and insights into making sport more inclusive and accessible – because that’s a great goal. Find out more, get in touch or look for events and opportunities coming up near you.  Visit our website at www.carersqld.com.au or call our enquiries line on 1300 999 636. 

0:52 Introduction: Choice and Control, a podcast celebrating people with disability. Brought to you by Carers Queensland, NDIS Local Area Co-ordination Partner in the Community. 

It’s great when the stars align and you can turn a passion into a career. Today we’re going to meet some blokes from the sporting world who have done just that.  Josh Pople is heavily involved with his local rugby league team the Redlands Parrots. He’s done some coaching training and he’s League Safe Officer.  Josh has cerebral palsy and uses and electric wheelchair, and he’s an active and vital part of his local team’s community.  We caught up with Josh and his mum Lisa to find out why Josh loves his rugby league. 

1:34 Lisa Pople: The mateship, he’s made lots and lots of very good friends, and being part of a club in the community also helps him be out there socially with a purpose too, doesn’t it? 

1:55 Fiona Stutz: That’s right because Josh has been involved with rugby league, I understand it’s the Redlands Parrots, for the past seven or eight years and the Capalaba Warriors for the five or six years previously as valuable team player. One of those things has been becoming a League Safe Officer, tell me a little bit more about that. 

2:15 Lisa: Well he got into that because at high school the thing that the boys did every lunchtime was, they never sat around, it was football the whole lunchtime. And Josh actually used to physically play in his wheelchair, it was just the done thing. The lady that worked at the canteen, unbeknown to us or Josh, she was actually a committee member at the Capalaba Warriors. So she went and saw one of Josh’s main teachers, Mick Quinn, and she just said to Mick ‘this guy absolutely loves footy, I love watching him’. Because Josh could catch the ball, kick it, I’m glad I wasn’t there to watch it because I probably would have freaked out. But yeah, she said ‘look, I am with the Warriors, I’ve got to get his guy into our club somehow, he’s just amazing’. 

So she went back to the committee, they all had a discussion about it and they all decided yes, they would love to him. The way how they started him off was Josh did his work experience there in Year 11, and then it continued on from there. They said to him we’d love you to go and do a League Safe Course so you can actually be legal, because he knew all the rules, everything there was to know, that’s when we went off and Josh did the course and became League Safe accredited. 

3:56 Fiona: What did he have to do for that? 

3:59 Lisa: They went through everything: what the role was, and then there was, you kind of had to answer some questions but it wasn’t anything that Josh couldn’t answer. You have to know when you’re allowed on the field and when you’re not and Josh was able to know all that information.  If there was somebody on the field that required first aid they were to signal or call for the trainer, and Josh could do that in the way of either putting up his arm and yelling out or using his beeper on his chair. So he was able to pass the course. 

4:42 Fiona: It sounds like it was the perfect role for him? 

4:46 Lisa: Yes, very much so.  The same gentleman from QRL, and I can't think of his name now, it was such a long time ago, he also encouraged Josh because he said he believed that Josh could go on and do coaching.  They had a big belief in him. 

5:03 Fiona: Tell me how Josh completed the theory side of coaching through the QRL, and how he’s been a spokesperson for people with a disability to show that if people can't play that there are other avenues to sport? 

5:18 Lisa: That was going back, it was on Saturday mornings wasn’t it? And it was about, you know, going through and answering the questions. The way that they even set out a lot of the questions was like, answer A B C or D, so Josh could relay that to me. Then they also had to do a part, they had to set up like a mini field, like if you were doing training what would you set out. So I wasn’t involved in that, Josh did that with the guy from QRL. He passed all that, he told the guy where to put all the equipment, and so he completed the theory side.  I’d say that he would have to do that again because that was quite a number of years ago, that was a long time and they do it differently now.  

But he never actually did the practice side of it because at that stage he didn’t have a good enough communication device. It meant you would have to be placed with a young team and converse with parents and the kids, and at that stage we didn’t have good enough communication devices to do that. And Josh kind of wasn’t, he was already with the older boys and he's been with them the whole time, and he wasn’t prepared to leave them to do a year with the younger team.  He wanted to stick with his own team. 

6:56 Fiona: With his mates? 

5:59 Lisa: Adults and mates. You know, once you get to know Josh they can pretty much work out what he’s on about, what he’s saying. He was at that age, because he was a lot younger himself, he wasn’t prepared to do that.  So that’s what happened there. 

7:18 Fiona: How important is inclusion in sports? 

7:22 Lisa: Very much so, because there’s lots of kids that would love to be a part, and some of them don’t have cerebral palsy, some of them have autism, there’s lots of difference. We do know that a couple of inner country clubs had a couple of kids who were in wheelchairs that were there at every game, they just loved it, and they went on and got them to actually join the club somehow. I don’t how what their role was in that club, but some of them were talking about scoring, hopefully that’s what happened. 

8:05 Fiona: That’s fantastic, it is really important – this is a sport that they love, they should be able to take part in some way. If it can't be playing it can be other ways just like Josh is doing.  What other things does Josh’s role at training and on weekend matches, what does Josh do? 

8:21 Lisa: He still dabbles a bit on the coaching side with his main coach of the team. Josh will spend some time during the week on his computer – because he has an eye tracker on his computer – and he actually writes out himself his own spiel on what he things they need to do and builds them up before the game and usually the captain or the coach reads out Josh’s information. That’s how Josh gets his point across on what they need to do, and he also – because he’s been with Gaffy who’s the main coach and they know Josh so well – Josh will actually just talk to Gaffy about what he things some of the boys, what plays they should be doing, because Gaffy understands what Josh is saying without using a communication device. That’s how you do it, hey? So they come up with some game plans themselves together, so, yeah. 

9:37 Fiona: That’s great, it just really spurs them on doesn’t it? 

9:40 Lisa: Yes, yes. I suppose Josh, being at the eye level that he is, he sees many good game plays, don’t you? And roles of what they should be doing, and what they shouldn’t be doing. He calls out to them too, does a bit of coaching from the sidelines sometimes. 

10:04 Carers Queensland announcement: Everybody has rights, but sometimes it’s not easy to speak up and advocate for yourself. It takes confidence, resilience, knowing your rights, and knowing someone has your back. Be The Voice You Want To Be can help. It’s a free program from Carers Queensland for people with disability.  It will build your skills, help you be a strong advocate for yourself, your family and friends, maybe even your community. Along the way you will build a peer network so you have a squad to support you speaking up.  Find out more, get in touch, or look for events and opportunities coming up near you.  Visit our website at www.carersqld.com.au or call our enquiries line on 1300 999 636. 

10:51 Jodie van de Wetering: Josh does have plans to make sport his career, he’s going to go back to study to get a Cert IV in Sports and Recreation – when he’s not being kept busy by his multiple other jobs. 

11:03 Lisa: He works two days at Mylestone Printing. And then other three days, his Aunty has her own business in the aged care industry, she got a grant through her business for Josh to have a computer and he uses the eye gaze and a couple of other switches, and Josh does most of the invoicing and the rostering. 

11:28 Fiona: Excellent – Josh enjoys that? 

11:32 Lisa: He does, most days, he says.  I mean you still have vision of doing your sport and recreation certificate. 

11:47 Jodie: Josh says all the things he’s up to on and off the field have been made possible by support from the NDIS. 

11:52 Lisa: He wouldn’t be able to do it without that. He wouldn’t be able to so fully involved if he didn’t have his NDIS funding, because they take him to training, they take Josh to all the games. You know there’s also that, they then hang out at the club after, or they organise a meet at somewhere else, and without that Josh wouldn’t be doing all those extra things. Because you don’t want your parents to be involved in that part of it, I mean they’re out, they could be down at the club till after midnight and when they’re with the boys it can go til three o’clock in the morning. 

12:39 Fiona: (chuckle) Of course! 

12:41 Lisa: So without NDIS he would not have, he would not be able to be so involved in his whole club socially.  Josh’s whole life has changed from NDIS, dramatically, and I sincerely say that with all my heart that his life is so much more. He’s gone on holidays without us, he’s out living a life. 

13:11 Jodie: Archie Graham from Ipswich is ranked number two in Australia in men’s singles tennis for players with intellectual disability. Like Josh he’s then turned his attention to coaching, and is now sharing his love of the sport with the next generation of tennis superstars.  And it all started thanks to a family connection when Archie was very young. 

13:30 Archie Graham: My grandmother had a tennis court in her backyard and when I was little I would come around and hit some tennis balls with her, you know I just kind of grew on it from there.  It was mainstream tennis at first and when I was a bit older, then I started to get into the disability stages. 

13:45 Jodie: And how are those mainstream ones, starting out with? Were they a good place to be if you were a person with disability? 

13:53 Archie: Oh yeah, of course. A lot of them were nice to me and the competition was very tough, which was good for me and my tennis because it made me tougher as a player. And most of the people were nice to me. 

14:06 Jodie: And all starting from that tennis court at your grandma’s place, you have done so well for yourself, could you talk as through some of the amazing things you’ve achieved in tennis? 

14:16 Archie: I’ve travelled overseas four times: I’ve been to Ecuador, I’ve been to America, I’ve been to England and I’ve been to France. 

14:26 Jodie: You’re a four times world singles champion, is that right? 

14:30 Archie: Yes. 

14:31 Jodie: As well as being an incredibly high achieving tennis player, you’re now coaching, is that right? 

14:43 Archie: Yes it’s something I have a passion for, and I coach kids as well which I love doing, giving back my expertise and tips on how to play tennis as well. It’s just a great feeling and I love doing it. Been coaching for over ten years now, so I just want to keep doing it because I love doing it.  It’s something I was looking for when I became an adult because I wanted to find my pathway, and I was lucky to find it through tennis.  

Tennis is a very good sport, you know, it’s very challenging mentally and physically, and I just love doing that sort of thing. Also giving back to the community, to help other players achieve their dreams and stuff, whatever that may be. 

15:38 Jodie: If you’re interested in getting involved in the sporting community in any capacity, from playing, to coaching, maybe volunteering in the canteen, Carers Queensland may be able to help.  Our Inclusive Sport and Recreation Communities Project is looking at the way people with disability participate in the sporting world. Head to our website to find out more details or to have your say through the online survey.  www.carersqld.com.au. 

Thanks for joining us at Choice and Control, a Carers Queensland podcast. For more information about the National Disability Insurance Scheme or Carers Qld contact us online at www.carersqld.com.au. You can call us on 1300 999 636, or head to Facebook and look for ‘Carers Qld NDIS’. 

Mentioned in this episode 

• QRL Diversity & Inclusion information 
• Tennis Australia Diversity & Inclusion information 
• Redlands Rugby League Club 
• Carers Queensland website 
• Carers Queensland upcoming events and workshops 
• Carers Queensland NDIS on Facebook 

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