THE START LINE
Your Para Sport Journey
Begins Here
By mid-morning, Brisbane’s Nissan Arena was alive with the sounds of competition, as more than 100 corporate participants discovered that their enthusiasm for Paralympic sport was rather easier to summon than the skills required to play it.
Twelve teams gathered recently for the finale of Paralympics Australia’s 2026 Para Tough Cup, a national corporate sporting challenge that raises vital funds for Australian Para athletes while offering participants firsthand experience of the sports.
Across the polished timber courts, basketballs ricocheted off rims, volleyballs sailed beyond outstretched hands and the distinctive rattle of goalballs briefly silenced competitors straining to locate them by sound alone.
One team arrived quietly confident that their six-foot-seven teammate would prove a considerable asset in wheelchair basketball. A reasonable assumption, perhaps, had they not overlooked the fact that everyone would be playing seated.
When the final scores were tallied, Brisbane 2032’s ‘Medal Masters’ team emerged victorious, claiming bragging rights over 11 rival teams. RACV finished second, while The Diamond Group’s, ‘Rough Diamonds’, completed the podium.
The sports may have looked familiar, but the skills required to play them were another matter. In wheelchair basketball, hands were required to propel wheels, control the ball and execute passes, often in bewilderingly quick succession. Sitting volleyball demanded a different understanding of balance and momentum, while goalball introduced the disorienting experience of surrendering sight and relying instead on sound, anticipation and trust.
“All the sports here are much harder than we anticipated,” admitted The Diamond Group’s, Joanne Fricker.
“We’ve all been chatting today, and we can’t believe how hard it is to play sports like goalball. When you have your vision taken away from you, it’s intimidating and it’s scary, but it’s great.”
Two-time Paralympic gold medal-winning wheelchair rugby champion Chris Bond acknowledged that his own sporting credentials offered little assurance of success in an unfamiliar discipline.
“I think I would find it more difficult, and I’m a full-time Paralympic athlete,” he said.
“You can see something, but once you actually try something, then you can fully understand what’s required to play the sport, let alone what’s required to go and compete and try to be the best in the world.”
Paralympic powerlifter Hani Watson was equally taken with the enthusiasm of the corporate competitors.
“They’ve really embraced it. They’re throwing balls and they’re spiking at each other on the sitting volleyball court. I’m actually really proud of these guys.”
The occasion also prompted a reflection on the sporting opportunities she wished had been available during her childhood.
“I kind of wish this was around when I was a kid, because then I could have tried maybe five different sports and seen what else I could possibly have been talented at.”
With Brisbane preparing to host the Paralympic Games in 2032, Bond hoped the experience would stay with participants when they next watched the world’s best Para athletes compete.
“Next time the Paralympic Games rolls around, they can watch that and go, ‘Oh, I tried that,’ and really appreciate the skill and effort and time it takes to represent your country,” he said.
By the afternoon, tentative manoeuvres had given way to more assured movements, louder instructions and increasingly ambitious attempts at sporting glory.
“Can we do this every day?” came an enthusiastic appeal from somewhere across the court, perhaps the simplest endorsement of the day.
There were still plenty of misjudged passes and unsuccessful attempts at goal, but by then, nobody seemed particularly concerned about preserving their sporting reputation.
“I’d really encourage any other corporates to get involved in future Para Tough Cups,” Fricker said.
“It’s the most amazing team-building activity and the best day out.”
You can see something, but once you actually try something, then you can fully understand what’s required to play the sport.
For those leaving Nissan Arena, aching shoulders and tired arms were likely to be the first reminders of the day. But when the Paralympic Games arrive in Brisbane in 2032, some may find themselves watching a perfectly weighted pass or a precisely timed save with a different understanding of what it takes to execute one.
Perhaps they’ll also remember, with a mixture of admiration and amusement, just how difficult it was to make the extraordinary look so wonderfully ordinary.
With the 2026 series concluded, Paralympics Australia announced dates for the 2027 Para Tough Cup, inviting businesses across the country to take part:
Sydney: Netball Central, 6 August 2027
Register – 2027 ParaTough Cup – Sydney | Paralympics Australia
Brisbane: Nissan Arena, 27 August 2027
Register – 2027 ParaTough Cup – Brisbane | Paralympics Australia
Melbourne: MSAC, 3 September 2027
Register – 2027 ParaTough Cup – Melbourne | Paralympics Australia
Your Para Sport Journey
Begins Here
Paralympics Australia is only able to continue doing its work driving the Paralympic Movement forward in Australia because of the generous support it receives from Government, Corporate Partners and donors.
The focus continues to be on delivering teams to each Summer and Winter Paralympic Games and supporting Para athletes as they enter and progress through the Para sport system and into their post-sporting careers.
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