The Australia men's national cerebral palsy soccer team represents Australia in international 7-a-side (CP) competitions. Officially nicknamed the Pararoos, the team is currently controlled by the governing body for soccer in Australia, Football Australia (FA), which are a member of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and the regional ASEAN Football Federation (AFF).
Since the team's foundation in 1998, they have represented Australia at the Paralympics on one occasion in 2000 and participated in nine IFCPF/CPISRA World Championships from 2001 to 2019. Australia achieved their highest result in their debut CPISRA campaign in 2001, beating the United States 1–0 to be positioned 5th out of the total 13 teams qualified. The Pararoos are currently ranked 10th in the IFCPF rankings.
The team consists of neurologically impaired athletes with ataxia, hypertonia or athetosis, playing a similar formatted game to Association Football, with smaller squads, fields and differing throw-in and offside rules.Reina, R., Sarabia, J., & Yanci, J. (2017). How does the ball influence the performance of change of direction and sprint tests in para-footballers with brain impairments?. PLOS ONE, 12(11), e0187237.
History
Foundation (1998)
Following the introduction of 7-a-side football in the 1984 Summer Paralympic games, Australia lacked a governing body to oversee and funding to develop a Paralympic football team.Moore, K. (2013). Football and the Olympics and Paralympics. Sport In Society, 17(5), 640-655. In 1998 the Cerebral Palsy Australian Sport & Recreation Federation (CPASRF) and the Australian Paralympic Committee (APC) collectively established a 7-aside football team in preparation for the countries home Sydney 2000 Paralympics. The team managed by Cornelius Van Eldik and coached by both Russell Marriott and David Campbell lost all three games in the group stage of their debut Summer Paralympic campaign.
In 2001, the team participated in their first Cerebral Palsy International Sports and Recreation Association (CPISRA) World Games, defeating both Belgium, Scotland and England to finish 2nd and 3rd in both group phases. The team went on to defeat the United States 1–0 to finish the tournament in 5th. In 2005, an agreement was made between CPASRF and APC, to pass the control of the team to Football Australia (FA) who were the governing body of both the Australian men's and Australian women's football teams at the time.
Paul Brown (2006 – 2013) era
In March 2006, Paul Brown and Kai Lammert were appointed as the head coach and assistant coach of the Paralympic team respectively.Australian Paralympic Committee. (2006). Australian Paralympic Committee Annual Report 2005/06 (p. 21). Canberra. This appointment was in preparation for the 2007 CPISRA World Championships, which was the qualifying event for the 2008 Beijing Paralympic games. The team finished 11th in the CPISRA championship rankings and subsequently failed to qualify for the Paralympic games, after heavy defeats from both England and Brazil.
Following the team's poor performance in the championships, Brown travelled across Australia to help strengthen state programs, and monitor progress of players. Additionally, Brown conducting three national camps across the 12 months period prior to the 2011 CPISRA World Championships, which was the qualification event to the 2012 London Paralympic games.Australian Paralympic Committee. (2009). Australian Paralympic Committee Annual Report 2009/09 (p. 28). Canberra. Although defeating Spain 4–2, in the opening game of the 2011 CPISRA World Championships, the Pararoos lost to Brazil, Netherlands and England to finish in 11th place and subsequently did not qualify to the 2012 London Paralympic games.
As part of the Australian Sport Commission's (ASC) introduction of the Winning Edge Policy on the 23 June 2014, the Pararoos' funding was cut by $175,000,Hammond, A., & Jeanes, R. (2017). Federal Government Involvement in Australian Disability Sport, 1981–2015. The International Journal of The History of Sport, 35(5), 431-447. with the commission deciding that funding should be prioritised to sports that have the greatest chance of success.Brissenden, M., & Gearin, M. (2016). AIS head defends' Winning Edge' policy in the lead-up to Rio. Following this decision, head coach Paul Brown launched an online petition for the reinstation of the government funding, with over 82,000 individuals signing the change.org appeal. However, Matthew Favier the ASC Sport director at the time reiterated the commission's decision stating that the “ASC did not believe the team would qualify for Rio”.
In January 2015, the governance of the sport was passed over from the CPISRA to the newly created International Federation of Cerebral Palsy Football (IFCPF) . Paul Brown stepped down from his position as head coach in March 2015.
Kai Lammert (2015 – present) era Former assistant manager Kai Lammert was named as the new head coach of the Pararoos in March 2015. During his first months within the job, Football Australia (FA) partnered with the Australian Sports Foundation (ASF) to develop a tax-deductible scheme to raise much needed funds to support the team, in preparation for future football tournaments. With no funding being provided from ASC, the team was able to qualify and travel to Argentina for the inaugural 2017 IFCPF Championships, through crowd sourced funding. The Pararoos ending up finish 10th following a 2–1 defeat to host country Argentina.
In 2018, the team came 2nd in the IFCPF Asia-Oceania Championship after a 7–0 defeat to Iran in the final, to qualify for the renamed IFCPF World Cup in Spain. The Pararoos went on to finish 10th in the IFCPF World Cup, after a 4–2 loss to Canada.
As part of the FIFA Forward 2.0 initiative in 2019, the FA received funding to help Australia's preparations for future international competitions. While also allowing the team to play their first official match in Australia since the 2000 Paralympic games.Bason, T., Salisbury, P., & Gerard, S. (2018). Fifa. In Routledge Handbook of Football Business and Management (pp. 423-440). Routledge. The game took place on the 30 November 2019, at Cromer Park Sydney, against world number 12, Canada. The Pararoos won the game 5–0, with almost 1200 fans in attendance, being a record for 7-a-side football outside of the Paralympic Games. The game also broke the record for the highest merchandise spend per fan of any Australian national game over the 2019 calendar year. As part of the FIFA initiative 100% of the revenue made on the day was reinstalled into supporting the team. The game also celebrated the 100th match for Pararoos captain David Barber, who holds the record for the most appearances for the Australian Paralympic team.
Team Image
Colours The Australian Paralympic soccer team uniform is traditionally the exact same as the Australian men's football team. This features a yellow jersey accompanied by yellow shorts and green socks. While alternatively for the away kit, the shirt and shorts are turquoise, and the socks are yellow. The Australian kits have been supplied by Nike, since 2004.
Sponsorship Period Kit Manufacturer Shirt Sponsor 1998 - 2004Adidas2004 - 2017Nike2017-2019Zest Care2019 -2022
Nickname The Australian Paralympic team's nickname, the “Pararoos” is used to informally refer to the team, in the media and in conversation. Similar to other Australian national representative sporting team nicknames, the term is a portmanteau word combining Paralympic and Kangaroo.Stell, M., & Salisbury, C. (2015). ‘It's Bigger than the Olympics’: changing Australia through football and the 1974 FIFA World Cup. Soccer & Society, 16(2-3), 245-258.
Recent results and fixtures
2019
2022 International competitions were cancelled throughout 2020 and 2021 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
2023
Players Caps and goals correct as of 17 May 2022. +Cap No.Position PlayerDate of birth (age)AppearancesGoals Debut 49GKCosimo Cirillo 18 May 2001 (age 20) 41v. Iran 3 August 2016 2GK, DF, MFChristopher Pyne 3 May 1984 (age 38)10420v. Netherlands 27 October 19991DFDavid Barber (captain)13 July (age 42)10170v. Netherlands 27 October 199927DFBen Atkins 26 June 1981 (age 30)728v. Canada 31 May 200848DFAlessandro La Verghetta 6 January 2001 (age 21)72v. Iran 3 August 2016 51DF, MFTaj Lynch15 November 2000 (age 21)16 1 v. Ukraine 13 September 46DF, MFMatthew Hearne 2 July 1999 (age 22)212v. Spain 31 July 201654DF, MFBradley Scott15 April 1988 (age 34)31v. Korea Republic 24 November 201844MFAngus MacGregor 13 June 1995 (age 26)121v. Russia 20 June 201553MFDaniel Campbell25 January 2003 (age 19)62v. United States 19 July 201817MF, FWBenjamin Roche21 November 1988 (age 33)5430v. Japan 29 June 200550FWBenjamin Sutton8 May 1993 (age 29) 41 v. United States 11 September 201752FWAugustine Murphy2 May 2000 (age 22)50v. United States 19 July 2018
Club Officials
Current technical staff Updated as of 22 May 2022. +Position NameHead Coach Kai LammertAssistant Coach Goran StajicAssistant Coach Tim Palmer Goalkeeping Coach Liam DediniTeam Manager Jenny Le
Managers +NamePeriod Honours Ref. Russell Marriott1998 - 2006 Summer Paralympic games qualification: 2000 Highest finish in CPISRA World Championships: 5th Paul Brown 2006 - 2013 Highest finish in CPISRA World Championships: 8th Kai Lammert 2013 - Highest finish in IFCPF World Championships: 10th
Competitive results Updated as of 22 May 2022.
Paralympic Games Paralympic Games recordYearResultPosition 1984did not participate 1988 1992 1996 2000Group stage7th300308 2004did not qualify 2008 2012 2016Total 0 Titles 3 0 0 3 0 8
CPISRA World Championships CPISRA World Championships recordYearResultPosition 20015th - 6th Playoff5th7412128 200711th - 12th Playoff11th63031713 20097th - 8th Playoff8th6105842 201111th - 12th Playoff11th63031530 201313th - 14th Playoff13th6204410Total 0 Titles 31 13 1 17 56 103
IFCPF CP Football World Championships IFCPF CP Football World Championships recordYearResultPosition 201511th - 12th Playoff12th5113415 20179th - 10th Playoff10th 6303819Total 0 Titles 11 4 1 6 12 34
IFCPF Men's World Cup IFCPF CP Football World Championships recordYearResultPosition 201911th - 12th Playoff11th63031315 202211th - 12th Playoff11th 4112611Total 0 Titles 10 4 1 5 19 26
IFCPF Ranking Updated as of 22 May 2022. Best Ranking Worst Ranking Best Mover Worst Mover Australia Paralympic soccer team rankingRankYearMoveRef.102022102021102020102019 6162018 1Football NSW. (2018). NSW players dominate Pararoos squad - Football NSW. Retrieved 25 May 2022, from https://footballnsw.com.au/2018/11/21/nsw-players-dominate-pararoos-squad/#:~:text=The%20Pararoos%2C%20who%20are%20currently,on%20Thailand%20two%20days%20later.152017 1142016 4102015102014
ParaMatildas ParaMatildas is the Australian national football team for women with cerebral palsy, acquired brain injury and symptoms of stroke. They won silver at the 2022 International Federation of Cerebral Palsy Football Women's World Cup, with USA winning in extra time.
References
External links FFA Pararoos website