The 2017 iPRO APFA Club Championship was held in Sydney, from the 3rd – 8th of January, 2017. Four players from our Winter Season were selected to represent the Melbourne City FC Powerchair Team which featured six other teams from New South Wales and Queensland. Shaun Mott, made his debut for Melbourne City. As did Western Australian, Dylan Needham, who also played his first official match of Powerchair Football.
Team Members
Melbourne City Powerchair Team 2017
Shaun Mott, James North-Coombes, Luke David (Coach/Captain), Jules North-Coombes (Vice-Captain), Dylan Needham
Day 1
Newcastle Jets 6 – Melbourne City 0
Sydney FC 2 – Melbourne City 0
Photo by Rev Williams (http://www.pbase.com/wrs864/australian_powerchair_football_ass_ipro_club_championship_2017)
Day 2
Roar PFC 4 – Melbourne City 0
Melbourne City 1 – Central Coast Mariners 0 (Luke David ’40)
Photo by Rev Williams (http://www.pbase.com/wrs864/australian_powerchair_football_ass_ipro_club_championship_2017)
Day 3
Brisbane PFC 9 – Melbourne City 0
Photo by Rev Williams (http://www.pbase.com/wrs864/australian_powerchair_football_ass_ipro_club_championship_2017)
Day 4
Western Sydney Wanderers 2 – Melbourne City 0
Photo by Rev Williams (http://www.pbase.com/wrs864/australian_powerchair_football_ass_ipro_club_championship_2017)
Day 5 (Championship Final)
Newcastle Jets 1 – Brisbane PFC 0
Photo by Rev Williams (http://www.pbase.com/wrs864/australian_powerchair_football_ass_ipro_club_championship_2017)
A big thank you to our support crew, our athletes and Melbourne City! The team struggled with consistancy but continue to improve at each event. Team Captain and Coach had this to say after the event:
“I cherish every moment I get to play sport. Not only do I get to do the thing I love, I also get to spend time with some of the best people! Powerchair Football struggles to get the attention it deserves in Victoria which makes it hard to train and compete against teams in NSW and QLD. We never gave up though, so proud of my team mates. We struggle with consistency but we pulled off an incredible win against the Central Coast Mariners. We battled hard against Sydney and Western Sydney Wanderers. A big thank you to our support crew and to Western Australian player Dylan Needham for coming down to play for us. You only just got your Strikeforce and hadn’t played a proper Powerchair Football match but you stepped in and played so well. It’s time to take this experience back and prepare for Nationals in October for both of our states. Onto bigger things for Powerchair Football in Victoria!“
