Three Offaly men to compete in Powerchair Football World Cup

Three men from Offaly will compete in the Powerchair Football World Cup in Australia later this year and a GoFundMe page has been set up to help raise funds for accommodation and medical equipment.

The fundraiser has been set up by Team Ireland with the goal of raising €3000 and €1540 has been raised to date.

Brothers Thomas (22) and Sean Donogher (21) from Kinnitty will join Conor Troy (17) from Kilcormac in the Republic of Ireland powerchair football squad against the world's best powerchair football nations.

This will be Conor's first time to compete in a world cup and Thomas and Sean's second world cup. All three were part of the Ireland team which won a bronze medal at the European Nations Cup in 2019 in Finland.

The 2023 Powerchair Football World Cup will take place in Sydney, Australia from October 15 until October 21 but the Secretary of the Association of Irish Powerchair Football, Donal Byrne, said the logistics and cost of getting to Australia have been an enormous challenge, with the cost of flights alone many times threatening to derail the dreams of ever getting there.

“It's a huge cost. Eight players have day chairs and sports chairs which adds to the cost. We've been trying to sort out the logistics since November. We are seeking to raise €3,000 to meet these challenges so the remaining months can be all about preparing for the action on the courts in Sydney and arriving ready to make the county of Offaly and Ireland proud.”

Medical equipment such as hoists are also required.

Donal continued: “It's been a real challenge to try and get there logistically and financially. We get some support from the FAI and Muscular Dystrophy Ireland."

“We've been together planning as a squad thinking we were going in 2021. It's a long time waiting to get there and compete,” Donal added, although the delay has given the players the chance to gel as a team.

Ten countries will take part in the World Cup including five from Europe. The Irish squad came 6th in the last World Cup held in Florida, USA in 2019. The World Cup has been postponed twice due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Secretary of the Association of Irish Powerchair Football stated: “We aim to do better than 6th. We want to make the semi-finals ad see where we go from there.”

Brothers Sean and Thomas have a lot of international experience competing and Sean was part of the underage team which competed in Paris in 2013. Their father Mike is the head coach for Ireland and Midlands United,

Powerchair football is the only active team participation sport for people who use electric wheelchairs or those who have limited movement in a manual wheelchair, and it’s usually played in an indoor court with matches consisting of two teams of four players each and a ball. The unique nature of powerchair football allows all ages, disabilities and genders to compete together.

Anyone who wishes to donate to the fundraiser should search for 'Offaly Trio's World Cup Dream' on GoFundMe.