Touchstone Winter 2013 - Cerebral Palsy League

Regional Insight“If we can modify a highlytechnical sport like archery,then surely the same thing canbe done for other sportingequipment so people withdisabilities can get involved.”- John Hans, CPL Support Workerand President of the PeaceInternational Archery Club,RockhamptonDavid Malone taking aimShooting for the topdegree of disabilities,” he said.“David tried archery through theCommunity Access program butphysically there’s no way he coulduse a bow and arrow, so I justasked David if he’d like to give thecrossbow a go.The story of David Malone isinspirational – not just because hehas accomplished something noother Australian with a disabilityhas done, but because of thefriendship and support thathelped him to achieve it.Fifty-six year old David hascerebral palsy and uses a walkingframe and wheelchair for mobilityand has limited movement in hisupper body. Incredibly, Davidlearnt to shoot a high-poweredtarget crossbow 12 months ago –and discovered he was good at it.David’s first competition was theCerebral Palsy League archerytournament in 2012, where hescored 289 out of a possible 300– quite some achievement – butthe story doesn’t stop there.The next chapter is even moreincredible: David has now attaineda Category M crossbow weapon’slicence – the qualification thatwill enable him to compete in allabilities club, State and Nationalshooting tournaments.Obtaining the licence took severalmonths of hard work reviewingthe exam questions and otherlicensing requirements, but moreimportantly, David needed to passthe live firing tests – which he didwith flying colours.As part of the licensingrequirements, David also joinedthe Peace International ArcheryClub in Rockhampton.David’s journey to becomingqualified was a long one anda great example of the way inwhich the Cerebral Palsy Leaguesupports its clients to achievetheir life goals.He may never have lived out hisdream without the mentoring andsupport of Rockhampton CerebralPalsy League Day Service andCommunity Access worker JohnHans, OAM, who is President ofDavid’s new archery club.John worked tirelessly and closelywith David to achieve this dream– so much so that it feels like apersonal achievement for himalso.“David has surely proved thatpeople with disability canachieve anything they want,given the right support andencouragement,” John said.“I don’t believe that anybody elsehas been tested [for a CategoryM licence] prior to David with his“He took to it like a duck to water,so we modified the bow to allowDavid to shoot and from day onehe surprised everyone, especiallyme, by shooting very high scores.”David and John took the final stepin their journey together whenthey attended the RockhamptonPolice Station on Friday 10 Mayto sign the final page on David’slicence application, which neededto be witnessed by a QueenslandPolice Officer.John is an active advocate andmentor for people with disabilitiesgetting into archery – and allother sports.In his quest to make the sportaccessible to more people withdisabilities, he has written acoaching manual and a disabilitypolicy for the club, which hasgone to Archery Australia for aroll-out.“I’d like to see people withdisability get into a lot moresports than they are currentlyable to.“You have to look at theirdisability and then think outsidethe coaching box about howyou’re going to get them to holdand shoot the bow,” he said.14 Touchstone Winter 2013