By XAVIER SMERDON
THREE Wyndham men have made history by taking on the world in their unusual sport for the first time ever.
Will Taylor from Werribee, Wayne Slattery from Hoppers Crossing and Bradd Smith from Werribee were part of the first ever Australian Wheelchair Handball Team to compete in the World Wheelchair Handball Championships in Brazil recently.
While the team had only been together for 12 months, they managed to upstage many of their competitors and take home a fourth place trophy.
Mr Slattery said that Brazil, who were the clear favourites for the tournament, took home first place after being together for eight years.
Mr Taylor, 20, who has muscular dystrophy, told Star he felt privileged to be able to represent his country.
“It was the best feeling ever,” Mr Taylor said.
“When I was younger all I wanted to do was represent Australia in something, and now I’ve done that.”
Mr Taylor and Mr Slattery were so impressive in their performances that they were selected for the All Stars team.
Mr Slattery said while the Australian team was the only non-South American contingent, the International Wheelchair Handball Federation had now expressed interest in holding the 2015 event in Werribee.
“We felt like we set a pretty good example. No one in the team had been to South America before and half the team hadn’t even been out of Australia, so it was a new experience for everyone,” Mr Slattery said.
“We’re now looking at holding the next championships here in Werribee and we’ve been speaking to the local council about that.
“We’re hopeful the Werribee Sports and Fitness Centre redevelopment will be sufficiently finished by then.”
The team practices every Thursday at Whitten Oval from 6pm to 7pm.
