Ben Noonan finding community through sport 

When Ben was first introduced to wheelchair basketball in 2009, it changed everything. “Before then, you had to go to Brisbane to play. Having it on the Gold Coast made a big difference,” he recalls. After sustaining a spinal cord injury in his early twenties, Ben initially focused on finishing his civil engineering degree and pursuing work in construction. Sport wasn’t on his radar. “There was a stigma. I didn’t really want to associate with other people with disabilities just because I had one,” he says. That changed when he got on the court. “Being in a sports chair is so different from a day chair – it was like running again after not running for eight years. Sport made me more comfortable with who I am now.”

Ben began as a social player, but when the original club leader stepped away, he took on the role of running the Gold Coast Rollerblaze Wheelchair Basketball Club. “Keeping that club going has become a passion. This year Gold Coast Basketball launched the first GC based wheelchair team in the WNWBL, and we now have five teams on the coast across two grades.” His leadership has helped create pathways for new players and ensured the club continues to grow.

“A level playing field —men, women, people with disability — everyone in there together.”

In 2012, he also discovered Sailability, a program offering sailing for people with disability. “It opened my eyes to different types of disabilities. I’ve made great mates through it.”

For Ben, data collection is critical. “It tells us what facilities and infrastructure we need and maybe highlights untapped areas where more people could play if clubs knew how to adapt.” Ben’s vision is simple: “A level playing field — men, women, people with disability — everyone in there together” and his message to sporting organisations when it comes to inclusion is grounded in community: “Surround yourself with good people.”