
The resumption of a NZWR Development Team is an exciting prospect in helping athletes develop into the next generation of Wheelbacks. The New Zealand Development Team assembled straight after the very competitive New Zealand Nationals tournament. The Development team is coached by former Wheelblack, Jai Waite and consisted of the below athletes.
The squad Coach Waite assembled has an exciting mix of new young promising players combined with some experienced players to help with development on all levels.
They competed against a well-polished and vastly more experienced Australian Development Team. Whom had just come off a 1st placing at the New Zealand Nationals, this was going to be a tough ask for the New Zealand Development Team.
Jai put together a great programme and with some fantastic guidance from Captain Gareth Lynch saw the New Zealand Development Team extremely competitive at times holding their own and even putting pressure on the Australian Development Team. Unfortunately, this was not sustained over the entire two matches, which saw the Australian Development Team win both games.
It was extremely encouraging to see the athletes develop from the training day and put what was learnt in practice positively into match situations. The New Zealand Development Team can hold their heads up high as every single player made a positive contribution on the court.
Coach Waite said “It’s a great starting spot for this program. To only have one training day to bring the squad together and learn new offensive and defensive plays, I was thrilled at how each athlete held their own out there on the court”.
It is great to have the development program up and running again and it will only strengthen the New Zealand Wheelchair Rugby community moving forward. Congratulations to Jai, Gareth and the team.
Article added: Tuesday 26 September 2023
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Photography by Cherie Harris: kotarecreek.com
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