BLUE HORNETS TO REPRESENT AUSTRALIA | TOKYO 2020 PARALYMPICS
Congratulations to three of our Blue Hornets members, who have been selected to represent Australia for Wheelchair Basketball at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics. This includes Jessica Cronje and Georgia Munro-Cook who have been selected in the Australian Gliders, and John McPhail who has been selected in the Australian Rollers, with both teams chasing a gold medal!
Our Hills Hornets Representative Manger Christie Graham, recently spoke with the athletes to get some additional insights into their excitement surrounding the team announcements and upcoming competition.
Georgia has been playing basketball since she was 8, making the switch to wheelchair basketball at age 20, having now played for 7 years. She found out she made the team in Canberra at the most recent camp, ‘I called my parents straight away to celebrate’.
Jessica Cronje said she is nervous and excited, ‘but I want to make the most of the opportunity of going to Tokyo’. Having already experienced the World Championships with the Under 25’s, she knows a little of what to expect on a world stage, ‘I’m eager to meet up with the rest of the team and enjoy playing the game I love’. Jessica also spoke about her on court role model, and fellow team mate Georgia Munro-Cook explaining that she is ‘always willing to help me out and I admire her cool calm demeanour on court’. Jess also spoke about her off court role model, her Mum Kris, ‘she backs me in my decisions and looks out for everyone else too. She’ll do anything for me but more importantly lets me do things for myself’.
Representing the males in the Australian Rollers is John McPhail. As soon as the team was announced John told his wife Jillian and mother Sue, ‘the two people that have played the biggest roles in helping me achieve my goals’. The Paralympics will see John playing against an ‘elite level, showcasing the best of the best’. John said he is looking forward to the challenge, with particularly intense games against United States of America and Great Britain.
This is an incredible achievement, and the entire Hills Hornets community is excited for these athletes and will be cheering you on every step of the way.
