Decorated Pararoo Ben Roche discusses the search for new Pararoos to take on the world. Beginning with a brief insight into the behind the scenes issues, Roche admits it’s been an uphill battle at times. “Since day one I think the Pararoos really have had to battle for what we believe in and for what we’ve been trying to achieve. The last few years have been tough in terms of funding – we lost 100% of our funding from the Australia Sports Commission back in 2014. Then after a serious push we were able to get to the World Championships in England in 2015. Unfortunately in 2016 we then received the bad news that – four months out from a tournament – that there was no budget again…
“So in a 12-week period, us as players got together and created a fundraising video and approached businesses and corporations – with the FFA support – and raised $160,00 in 12 weeks and got to Denmark and subsequently qualified for the World Championships.” LISTEN NOW.