Help me reach the pinnacle of success

Hi, my name is Gina Taka-Ardouin

I am from Auckland originally, and am now living in Christchurch. I have a disability called Spastic quadriplegia Cerebral Palsy which affects all four limbs of my body. I’m part Maori and my tribe is Tainui Waikato. I started playing Boccia when I was just 12 years of age. I went to one of those “give it a go” days and I’m so glad I did. It was an experience that changed my life.

I played for the next 4 years and was given the opportunity to Represent New Zealand in Portugal, however unfortunately I was 6 months short of the age requirement to attend this tournament. I was devastated. I also no longer had the funding support for a ramp assistant.

After this news I stopped playing. I remember thinking now what will I do?

After stopping at the age of 17, I thought I would never play Boccia again.

I moved to Christchurch in 2013 and after having played when I was 12 years old, then having had a substantial time away from the game, I decided to start playing again.

In 2017 I applied for a ramp assistant through CCS Disability Action and this was approved with Very High Needs (VHN) Vocational Funding which enabled me to join Parafed Canterbury.

The reason I wanted to get back into Boccia was to succeed at both a National level as well as internationally around the world,

I competed in the National Competition (Pairs Category BC3) in October 2017. We won silver that year which I was delighted with, given I had had more than a decade off the court.

My success didn’t stop there. I continued to train and play Boccia in 2018, entering the National competition in Wellington with a different partner. This time we won gold. A goal that I have been hopeful for since I re entered the game.

Some of the fundraising initiatives I have done are:

• A Quiz night which also gave me the opportunity to run raffles at the event.

• Sales of Couplands products.

• Bacon sales.

• Lotto sweepstake.

• Making and selling of cheese rolls.

I have further events that I wish to carry out. It is the North Island regional championships. The things that I have listed above apply to every tournament that I play away from Christchurch, as well as International play.

The more tournaments I can attend the better as this will work in my favour as it goes towards National ranking.