Peakhurst Paralympians roll on

The Australian men's team's quest to get back among the medals at the Paralympics started strongly with the Rollers cruising to an 81-39 opening win over Iran and then steamrolling Algeria 83-37 with 13 goals from Auprince .

They then faced Germany, and continued their perfect start with a 64-53 win.

The Rollers then received a 66-38 pre-finals touch-up from a finely-tuned USA before facing reigning World Champions Great Britain.

Michael Auprince and John McPhail both of whom grew up in Peakhurst were two of five players who experienced their first Paralympic matches this week.

McPhail, who had a long wait after being part of the 2010 World Championship-winning side, said he didn't think the buzz of being there had really set in yet.

"It's awesome. A decade passed and I'm here. I think it just shows that if you want to do something and you keep chipping away, you can really do it.

"Hopefully, I'll be around for a few more years."

Of the early results, McPhail said they expected tougher games.

"I think it's a testament to the way we prepared as a team. From one to 12, the coaches, all the support staff, we've waited so long for this.

His local team mate Michael Auprince is a Games veteran, competing at two Paralympic Games in swimming - his focus turned to wheelchair basketball as part of the Australian team that won bronze at the 2013 Under 23 World titles.

Auprince returned to bulk up their front court when the national team qualified for the 2018 World Championships with a gold medal at the AOZ Qualifiers, scoring six points in the final.

He proved his importance later that year, making the final team to compete at the 2018 World Championships in Hamburg, Germany where the Rollers won the Bronze medal.

McPhail's wheelchair basketball career started with the NSW junior team. He was also member of the Australian Men's Team which won the gold medal at the 2010 Wheelchair Basketball World Titles.

Whilst studying in the United States, he played for the University of Texas. In 2015, he played with the NWBL Dallas Wheelchair Mavericks and won the national title. He has also played professionally in Germany.

In 2020, he was playing with the Sydney Metro Blue Hornets and was selected to the Australian Rollers Squad for Tokyo.

Member for Oatley, Mark Coure congratulated Michael and John and said he looked forward to seeing both men perform throughout the competition.

"Michael is an outstanding lifelong representative of the St George community. He is also a role-model for young men and women by demonstrating that no matter your circumstances, if you work hard and try your best on the sporting field, you can achieve anything."