APC
National Talent Search program hits WA
Wheelchair Sports WA & The Australian Paralympic Committee are working together to bring The National Talent Search Program to WA.

The day first to be held in Perth is scheduled for Saturday 25th February 2005.

The Talent Search Program is a new initiative of the Australian Paralympic Committee (APC). Its main aim is to identify people with physical disabilities, vision impairments and intellectual disabilities, who display the athletic potential to one day make it to Paralympic level competition.

For more information on the APC Talent Search Program visit http://www.paralympic.org.au/apc_sports.asp?id=233

SPORTS NEWS

Archery
Archery Australia National Championships
The 5th Archers with a Disability National Championships will be held as part of the Archery Australia Nationals 23-29 April 2006 in Moorwell, Victoria. For more information and the Entry Kit, please visit http://www.sports.org.au/docs/EntryKit.pdf

Athletics
Arrive Alive Summer Down Under
The Summer Down Under International Road and Track Racing Series is on again. Once again the highlight will be the OZ DAY 10K to be held on Australia Day racing around Circular Quay, Sydney. The track meet will take place on Tuesday 24 January at Sydney Olympic Park, Homebush.

Telstra A National Athletics Championships
The Telstra A National Athletics Championships will be held at Sydney Olympic Park 2 - 5 February 2006.

The final program of events can be viewed at http://www.athletics.org.au/content/meets/docs/timetable/2006%20Nationals%20Open_%20Final%20Timetable%20as%20at%2018%20Jan%202006.pdf

Basketball
Osaka Cup
The Australian Men's wheelchair basketball team to play in the prestigious Osaka Cup in Japan in February has been selected. The NWBL-select team contains four players from NSW, three from Western Australia, three from Queensland and two from Victoria in the 12-man squad.

Australia is drawn to play Canada (the current World and Paralympic champions), the People's Republic of China and Japan in a round-robin tournament, with the top two teams at the end of the preliminary rounds to play off in the grand final. It will be a hectic schedule for the Australians, who will play four games over three days.

Head coach Ben Ettridge (WA) will be looking to his more seasoned campaigners such as Justin Eveson, Shaun Norris, Tristan Knowles, Daryl Taylor and Tige Simmons to guide the Australian team to success and a good result will be a strong guide to Australia's chances in this year's World Championships (to be held in Amsterdam from 3-16 July, 2006).

The Australian NWBL team for Osaka is as follows: Justin Eveson (WA-Perth Wheelcats), Shaun Norris (WA-Perth Wheelcats), Andrew Jamieson (WA-Perth Wheelcats), Tige Simmons (QLD-Brisbane Spinning Bullets), Michael Hartnet (QLD-Brisbane Spinning Bullets), Jace Clare (QLD-Brisbane Spinning Bullets), Andrew Flavell (VIC-Dandenong Rangers), Darren Skuse (VIC-Dandenong Rangers), Tristan Knowles (NSW-Wollongong Roller Hawks), Daryl Taylor (NSW-West Sydney Razorbacks), Jeremy Van Asperen (NSW-Wentworthville Leagues Wheelkings), Bill Latham (NSW-Wentworthville Leagues Wheelkings), Head Coach Ben Ettridge (WA), Assistant Coach Evan Bennett (NSW), Manager Barry Barker (QLD).

Rule Changes For 4th January 2006
With the conclusion of the final qualifier for the 2006 World championship IWBF is now able to confirm the changes to the rules effective immediately. IWBF has taken over the rule changes from FIBA and introduce two new changes to the IWBF rule book.
For a full version please go to www.iwbf.org and download Rulebook Corrections 4 January 2006 Final.

Cycling/Handcycling
2006 Australian Road Cycling Championships
Cycling Australia will be conducting the 2006 Australian Road Championships for Athletes with Disabilities (AWD's) in conjunction with the 2006 Australian Masters Road Championships (as per this year). These championships are the official national road championships for all AWD's and will be held in Sydney from Friday 5th to Sunday 7th May 2006. Details on event programme, venues & course profiles will be available as soon as confirmed.

There is intent to conduct a Road Race and Road Time Trial for every class/category (including Hand Cycling), however if there are low entries in any particular class/category, classes/categories may need to be combined.

As per the AWD/PPP Selection Policy (a copy can be viewed on the CA website www.cycling.org.au ), athletes from the following classes (both men & women) who compete in Road only events, will be required to compete at these Australian Road Championships in order to be considered for selection for the Australian Team to compete at the 2006 IPC World Cycling Championships:-

CP Div 2 (Tricycle)
CP Div 1 (Tricycle)
HC Div A (Hand Cycle)
HC Div B (Hand Cycle)
HC Div C (Hand Cycle)

Please note that all athletes will also be required to hold a valid 2006 Cycling Australia domestic licence prior to competing at these Championships. Licence applications can be obtained online by visiting the CA website at www.cycling.org.au .

Wild West Handcycling Tour
Some of the worlds best athletes will be in Perth for the inaugural Mastercard Wild West Handcycling Tour 15 - 19 March 2006. Made up of five stages, the tour will cover a total distance of 135Km

This event will be the biggest of its kind in Australia and will be the first race of the Handcycling Federation's World Cup Series, which will include races in Europe, South Africa and USA. The tour will showcase some of handcycling's best riders in the world, including many of the medallists from the 2004 Athens Paralympic Games.

For more information on this event, please visit http://www.wheelchairsportswa.org.au/default.aspx?et=2&ei=19&subSiteID=3&strMode=newsDisplay&nArticleID=72


Powerlifting
2006 National Championships
Sporting Wheelies and Disabled Association will host the 2006 National Powerlifting Championships on Saturday 18 February 2006. This event has full IPC Sanctioning. For more information, please contact Sporting Wheelies and Disabled Association on 07 - 3253 3333.

Wheelchair Rugby
IWRF World Rankings and World Championships
Australia has maintained it's position as the Number 5 ranked team in the World. New Zealand still sits on top of the World Rankings. For a full rankings list please visit http://www.sports.org.au/docs/WC%20Rugby%20World%20Rankings.pdf

The Australian Team has also qualified for the World Championships in New Zealand in September. A full list of qualified teams can be found at http://www.sports.org.au/docs/WC%20Rugby%20World%20Champs%20Qualification.pdf .

The team will use the Canada Cup in June as their major pre-Worlds tournament.

Tennis
Summer of Tennis
The 2006 Australian Wheelchair Tennis season kicks off this week with the Super 8s Tournament at Melbourne Park and the Queensland Wheelchair Tennis Open to be held at Caloundra Tennis Club.

These will be followed by the Sydney International Wheelchair Tennis Open 1 - 5 February at the Sydney International Tennis Centre, with the season culminating in the Australian Wheelchair Tennis Open to be held at Melbourne Park 8-12 February 2006.

Most of the World's Best Senior and Junior Tennis players will be in Australia for these tournments and competition should be fierce.

Tenpin Bowling
2006 National Championships
Entry forms are now available for the Australian Disability Championships and the State Teams Challenge to be held in June at AMF Castle Hill. These can be downloaded from the Tenpin Bowling Australia website www.tenpin.org.au in the "What's New" section.

February-April Calendar of Events

February
1-5	Wheelchair Tennis	Sydney International	Sydney, NSW
2-5	Athletics	Telstra Australian Championships	Sydney, NSW
8-12	Wheelchair Tennis	Australian Open	Melbourne, VIC
14-19	Wheelchair Basketball	OSAKA Friendship Cup	Osaka, Japan
18	Athletics	Telstra A-Series	Melbourne, VIC
18	Powerlifting	Australian National Championships	Brisbane, Qld
18-19	Wheelchair Basketball	Albury Festival of Sport	Albury, NSW
24-26	Fencing	World Cup	Hong Kong
25	Swimming	Sporting Wheelies State Champs	Brisbane, Qld
25	Handcycling	Albury Festival of Sport	Albury, NSW
March
1-5	Lawn Bowls	Sporting Wheelies State Champs	Brisbane, Qld
3	Athletics	Telstra A-Series	Brisbane, Qld
3-5	Athletics	WA State Championships	Perry Lakes, WA
10-19	Multi-sports	Winter Paralympic Games	Torino, Italy
15-19	Handcycling	Wild West International Tour	Perth, WA
15-26	Multi-sports	Commonwealth Games	Melbourne, VIC
April
1-2	Wheelchair Basketball	WNWBL Round 1	Sydney NSW
7-9	Wheelchair Rugby	NZ Low Point Nationals	Palmerston North, NZ
7-13	Wheelchair Basketball	National Junior Championships	Brisbane, QLD
15-17	Athletics	Stawell Gift	Stawell, VIC
22-24	Wheelchair Rugby	Wheelchair Rugby "BASH"	Brisbane, QLD
23-29	Archery	Australian National Championships	Melbourne, VIC
27-29	Fencing	World Cup	Montreal, Canada
27-4	May Lawn Bowls	Multi-Disability National Championships	Melbourne, VIC

Subject to alterations
A full Calendar of Events can be found at http://www.sports.org.au/calendar.html


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PO Box S83 Homebush South NSW 2140
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