News
6 May, 2025
Rolling with the Tigers
THE 2024 premiership winning Redcliffe Tigers Wheelchair team rolled into their third ever season, paving the way for competitive inclusive AFL.
The club has been involved in the competition since its inception, making up one of four teams in the first two years. This competition has grown to include five mixed gender teams.
Club president, Gayle Fitzgerald, said why it was so important for the club to champion inclusivity.
“I just think as a club, we really want to be inclusive, and we all love football and we’ve got the ability to run out and play football, but not everybody else did,” she said.
“We’re involved with people that haven’t been able to play in the past and with the awareness around it now, we wanted to be a part of the competition and bring football to everyone.”
Wheelchair AFL allows people who are either able bodied or who already use a wheelchair, to play five a side on an indoor basketball court.
Redcliffe’s Wheelchair side had their first game against the Mt Gravatt Vultures on Sunday, May 4, which they lost 33–24.
The Tigers will this year debut their inclusion team, which gives people with disabilities a platform to play AFL competitively at a grassroots level.
They will host a tournament at their home ground at the Nathan Road Sports Complex on Saturday, May 10, to kick off the first round of the season.
“We actually introduced an inclusion team this year, we’ve got an inclusion carnival at our football club this weekend,” Gayle said.
“It will be a carnival with all the inclusion teams, so four clubs will be involved in that.
“We’ve got four games from 9am before our senior program starts, which will be great.”
