For more than 60 years Sporting Wheelies has been helping Queenslanders with a disability gain access to opportunities to live a more active and healthy life.

Sporting Wheelies and Disabled Association has its origins in the 1960s as a small sports club within the Paraplegic Welfare Association in Queensland.

Sporting Wheelies is an approved National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) provider.

The organisation only charges the set NDIS rate for exercise physiology resulting in no out-of-pocket costs for those eligible. Participants can claim under the improved daily living and improved health and wellbeing categories.

Sport for people with spinal cord injuries was gaining in popularity as a result of the first Paralympic Games in Rome in 1960, and the Queensland Sports and Social Club for the Disabled played an active role in promoting disability sport and raising funds for Queensland athletes selected for national and international competitions.

In 1977, the club became a registered charity in its own right as the Paraplegic and Quadriplegic Sport Association of Queensland and by the following year, the association had extended its programs and services to include people with physical disabilities other than spinal cord injuries, including people with vision impairment.

The decision was made to change to the current name to reflect the Association’s broader mission and capitalise on the popular term “sporting wheelies” to describe wheelchair athletes.

Today, the association is widely recognised as a leader in the field of sport and healthy activity for people with a disability by national bodies such as Sport Australia and Paralympics Australia.

In 2022, the association now offers a huge selection of sports and therapies from basketball and powerlifting to gym fitness and even school programs.

Sporting Wheelies has a strong and successful history of supporting elite Queensland para-athletes to achieve their best performances in Paralympic and World Championship competition.

In partnership with the Queensland Academy of Sport, Sporting Wheelies runs a High Performance Program.

The program supports athletes to prepare and participate as national and international representatives in wheelchair basketball, wheelchair rugby and goalball.

They have many sports covered. Check out everything they offer:

Wheelchair basketball: A great way to keep fit and develop new skills.

Wheelchair rugby:  An exciting contact sport, play with a team.

Boccia:  A tactical game of concentration, strategy and accuracy. Boccia is similar to the Italian game of  bocce  for players of all abilities, including those with a physical disability.

RecCONNECT:  Make friends, learn skills, get active and have fun! It is an inclusive recreation program that allows you to enjoy new activities, grow your social skills, and participate in your community. RecCONNECT can be funded through your NDIS plan.

Goalball:  Designed for players with a vision impairment, the aim is to protect your goal

Para powerlifting:  Requires strength, power, coordination and dedication to training

Wheelchair AFL:  Sporting Wheelies is introducing Wheelchair AFL. Contact Sporting Wheelies to try the new sport.

Swimming: Swimming is a great way to stay fit.

Other sports and recreation:  Wheelchair dancing is also catching on and many regional Queensland centres have More inclusive sports available.  Some of these include clay target shooting, water-skiing, sailing, roller-skating/roller hockey (wheelchairs welcome), blokarting, tennis, fishing and boating, outrigging, canoeing, rowing, 4 wheel driving and wheelchair dancing. Contact Sporting Wheelies to find out more.

High Performance Program:  Elite training for Paralympic and World Championship competition.

Exercice therapy programs run by Sporting Wheelies help participants reach their goals through targeted therapies.

These include:

Physiotherapy:  A registered physiotherapist with experience across a broad spectrum of rehabilitation in neurological and musculoskeletal conditions provides a holistic, hands-on, manual therapy approach that is individualised to each person’s need

Exercise physiology:  Highly qualified accredited exercise physiologists can provide specific therapies to support people living with disability and chronic medical conditions. To improve your overall health, specific therapies are available.

Gym: Sporting Wheelies understands that no two people are the same, which is why its Health and Fitness Centre is fully accessible and inclusive with a wide variety of services catering to people of all abilities.

Telehealth: Bringing its exercise experts to you – through Telehealth! Telehealth is how Sporting Wheelies is delivering your exercise physiology service without you needing to attend   Health and Wellness Centres. Easy to use and a great way to improve your access to health care, telehealth allows you to receive high quality services from our experienced and accredited exercise physiologists.

Home health: Sporting Wheelies offers services in the comfort of your own home. Exercise physiologists can tailor exercises to your environment as well as your activities of daily living.

Sporting Wheelies also runs inclusive school sports programs. Find out more here.

Sporting Wheelies treats people of all ages with a range of impairments, including spinal cord injury, brain injury, stroke, multiple sclerosis, muscular dystrophy, cerebral palsy, Friedreich’s Ataxia, Parkinsons, spina bifida, limb loss and impairment, vestibular and vision impairment, Down syndrome, autism and diabetes.

To get the most out of your NDIS funding, find out what programs or services are available in your area or those closest to you,  contact Sporting Wheelies on  mailbox@sportingwheelies.org.au or phone (07) 3253 3333.