Blazing towards a healthy community

NBL team Gold Coast Blaze, Sporting Wheelies and Disabled Association, Gold Coast City Council and Gold Coast Recreation and Sport Inc have joined together to create ‘Rollerblaze’ -  social wheelchair basketball for people in the Gold and Tweed Coast region.

State Member for Southport Peter Lawlor said Rollerblaze was a great example of a community looking out for the health and the needs of its people.

“What a great initiative that can involve people of all skill level and regardless of whether they are able bodied, amputees, or people with disease or a spinal cord injury,” he said.

“A ‘come and try’ social basketball day has already proved a huge success and participant feedback suggests this program will have a big impact on the lives of people who may otherwise miss out on such sporting opportunities.

“These people wanting to play social wheelchair basketball currently have to travel to Brisbane.”
Entries in the Healthy Queensland Awards close on 27 March 2009. The Awards offer prize money of up to $1 million for communities, $500,000 for schools and $100,000 for workplaces.

Rollerblaze is entered in the community category and its goal is to have a regular mixed social league for player aged 16 and over.

“This sort of initiative will give participants the opportunity to meet other people, improve their self-esteem, develop social and sport skills, and improve their health,” Mr Lawlor said.
 
The Bligh Government’s Healthy Queensland Awards set out to motivate, celebrate and reward communities, schools and workplaces for helping Queenslanders to lead healthier lives.

“I urge communities, schools and workplaces to become involved. More than 4300 Queenslanders die prematurely each year from preventable chronic diseases and we all need to take action to improve our health and that of our friends, families and communities,” Mr Lawlor said.

Rollerblaze already has 18 regular players and if successful, the volunteer organisers will use the prize-money to buy specialised all court sports wheelchairs.

The program is supported by Nerang Police and Citizens Youth Club, Australian Paralympic Committee, Australian Men's Wheelchair Basketball team, Canadian Men's Wheelchair Basketball team, The Spinning Bullets - Qld National Wheelchair Basketball team, and the Wheelchair and Disabled Association (House With No Steps).