13 WAIS athletes selected in Australian Rollers and Gliders squads for 2021

13 Western Australian Institute of Sport athletes have been selected in the Australian Rollers and Gliders squads for 2021. The squads form the group from which the Tokyo Paralympic Team will be selected.

In the Rollers Captain Shuan Norris leads the way with the 2008 Paralympic Gold medallist eye a fifth Olympic Games and a fourth medal. Joining Norris is the experience Jannik Blair and Kim Robins along with rising stars Phil Evans, Jake Kavanagh, Thomas McHugh and Frank Pinder.

“With a little over six months until the Paralympic Games, this camp is extremely important to our Tokyo preparations,” said Rollers Head Coach Craig Friday.

“Due to COVID and the travel restrictions involved both domestically and abroad, we’ve not been able to train together as a squad since October 2019. So, during this weeklong camp there will be plenty of court-time where we will work on technical and tactical aspects of our game in readiness for the challenge ahead.

“There is plenty of competition for spots in the final Rollers team for the Paralympics and I’m expecting that competitive spirit to be on show in Canberra.”

The new look Gliders squad contains only two former Paralympians, with WA’s Amber Merritt and Sarah Vinci providing important leadership and experience to the young squad.

Natalie Alexander, Mary Friday, Georgia Inglis and Taishar Ovens complete the Western Australian representation on the 20-person team. 

Both the Rollers and Gliders will be coached by Western Australian Craig Friday, who after helming the Rollers has been appointed head coach of both programs.

“It will be great to get the group together and throw some new challenges at the athletes. I am excited to implement some new strategies and see how quickly we can adjust and adapt,” Friday said of the Gliders.

The Rollers and Gliders head to the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra for their first camp together in more than a year.