Sportlight: Wheelchair Racing.
Billie wants to shine the ‘sportlight’ on the incredible sportswomen - of all levels and disciplines - that we have around Aotearoa.
This week, as part of the MOVE campaign with NETFIT and #ItsMyMove, we chat to wheelchair racer and netball umpire Gabby Wright.
What is wheelchair racing?
Wheelchair racing is a very popular sport in the Para-athlete world. Wheelchair racers can race anywhere from 100m sprints to 42 kilometre marathons. I personally race the 100m, 200m, 400m, and 800m distances. My favourite being the 400m. This is all raced on a regular athletics track with pretty much all the same rules as a runner (which includes staying in your lane which is a difficult task sometimes lol).
What an epic sport! You’re also a netball umpire, give us a brief insight into that.
I started umpiring pretty soon after ending up in a wheelchair. I became the first person in New Zealand - and possibly the world - to umpire netball from a wheelchair. I love it so much because it allows me to be involved with the actual play of the game, as I can’t be a player on court.
How did you get involved in netball umpiring and wheelchair racing?
I started playing netball from age 9 and fell in love with the sport as soon as I picked up the ball. I played for years up until I was 12. I was playing for 3 different teams - my school team, club team and my club representative team. It was safe to say my life was split between school and the netball courts.
In 2016 at age 12, I contracted what is known as Transverse Myelitis which simply explained is inflammation of the spinal cord causing complete paralysis below the area of inflammation. This was caused by my immune system overreacting to fighting off a cold and attacking my spine. This left me permanently reliant on a manual wheelchair.
Although some people can fully recover from Transverse Myelitis, for me this looks very unlikely. Just a bit of bad luck really, or was it?
It did ruin my goal of playing netball professionally but I immediately thought of ways I can involve myself back into the game, that would also see me achieve my dream of representing New Zealand on the international stage.
At first I became the manager of my younger sister’s netball team. That was alright but I still wanted to be more involved with actually playing the game. That’s when my mum suggested I try umpiring. My club was immediately on board with it and that’s how I started umpiring.
However umpiring wasn’t fulfilling my competitive streak and I still wanted to achieve my goal of representing my country. I came across wheelchair tennis which I played for a few years but there weren’t many opportunities there. In the 2019 Halberg Games, which is an annual sporting event for people up to the age of 21 to represent their region in a variety of different sports, I discovered wheelchair racing. I saw others doing it and thought about how cool it looked. A coach there told me to give it a go and I did. He thought that I had a natural talent for it and invited me to one of his trainings. I’ve been training and competing ever since.
What has encouraged you to keep pursuing your sports?
I love the athletic community and the amazing Para athletes within it. I have meet some of my life long friends doing wheelchair racing. Continuing to pursue it means for some amazing life experiences in the coming years like competing in the Paralympic games (that’s my biggest goal in wheelchair racing). It also allows me to be competitive and gives me a space to set big goals for myself and achieve them. I’ve always been a sporty person, so after ending up in a wheelchair, being involved in a sport was extra important my own wellbeing. I think that sport has also helped me bounce back from such a challenging and life-changing situation. It gave me something else to focus on instead of sitting at home feeling sorry for myself.
Outside of your sport, what are your favourite ways to move?
My life is pretty consumed with my training. I train 5-6 times a week, 4-5 of which is in my racing chair, and the other one at the gym with my personal trainer. So I don’t do too much outside of that. However at uni, they have a recreation center with basketball courts and table tennis which is a common spot for me to hang out with friends. Also living in the city allows me to access things and places just by wheeling there. I often go for a wander down to the waterfront as I really love that part of the city.
What’s the most enjoyable part of your sport?
The most enjoyable part for me is seeing myself achieve things that I didn’t think I could when I first ended up in a wheelchair. I know that 12-year-old me would be so proud of what I’ve done today.
Also I love travelling around to compete and seeing an array of different places. I’ve travelled all over New Zealand and Australia so far with wheelchair racing career and have plans to travel even further in the next coming years. I’m excited to go to places such as Switzerland, which, has the world’s fastest athletics track, specifically for wheelchair racers.
What lessons has wheelchair racing taught you?
I have learnt so much from being in a wheelchair in general. I’ve learnt that our world is a very inaccessible place. Before I never had to think about accessibility but now it’s a daily issue that I face. From this I grew a massive passion for improving accessibility in architecture. I’m currently in my first year of studying for a Bachelor of Architecture at AUT.
In terms of my sports, I’ve learnt so many life skills. I have learnt so much about mindset - how to be mentally strong going into the last 100m of a 400m or 800m race. I’ve also learnt that not every race is going to be great and that this can be caused by factors in, or even out of my control.
Another thing I’ve learnt about mindset which my amazing mentor taught me is ‘focusing on the process not the outcome’. The first few years of racing, I would judge my race by the time I got. Now I’ve leant that if I focus on my process, the times will follow. Things like my start of my race or how I want to get off the line. I’ve found that looking at it this way, has really had a positive impact on my reflections of my races. I can also apply this mindset to things outside of my sport too which is really cool.
Who is your biggest inspiration?
My biggest inspiration is my younger self. She is the one that came up with these big goals so I aim to do everything for her. She had absolutely no idea what was going to happen to her but now in a way, I’m so glad it did. I’ve had so many amazing opportunities arise and experiences that I never would’ve had otherwise.
My idol is a wheelchair racer from Australia, Madison De Rozario. She has been to numerous Paralympic, Commonwealth and Para Athletic Championships, winning gold many times. Her coach Louise Savage is also an absolute legend in the Para athletics community. I’ve been super lucky to meet them both and learn a lot of really cool things from them.
Check out Gabby’s involvement in NETFIT’s MOVE campaign here.
