Pararoos announce squad

Pararoos Head Coach Paul Brown has selected a 12-player squad for the AFC’s new Dream Asia Cerebral Palsy Tournament

Pararoos Head Coach Paul Brown has selected a 12-player squad for the AFC-s new Dream Asia Cerebral Palsy Tournament UAE 2012 which will be held in Abu Dhabi from 1-7 April.

The Dream Asia Cerebral Palsy Tournament UAE 2012 will see the Pararoos line up against, Iran, Jordan, Korea, Singapore and UAE compete in friendly matches over six days at the Military Forces Stadium in Abu Dhabi. The participating teams have been invited based on regional representation from AFC's five regions and the Cerebral Palsy International Sport and Recreation Association-s (CPISRA) world ranking.

Brown believes that the Dream Asia Cerebral Palsy Tournament 2012 will provide the Pararoos with valuable international experience for the future

“Obviously it was very disappointing for us not to qualify for the 2012 London Paralympic Games, but this tournament will provide us with the ideal opportunity to start our preparations for the next campaign.

“This is a younger squad than we have had in the past with 4 players set to make their international debuts. This was a deliberate decision to try and add more depth to our national team for the future.

“It-s also good to see players from states with programs that are only a year old starting to bear fruit like Chris Barty and Michael Debenham from Western Australia.

“Anytime our players get the chance to test themselves against quality international opposition is a great occasion in their sporting career.

“Our goal is to go to Abu Dhabi to be competitive and do Australia proud,” concluded Brown.

The Dream Asia Cerebral Palsy Tournament is a new initiative by the AFC and its Member Associations and aims to encourage local communities to come out and play the beautiful game irrespective of their levels of abilities.

The tournament is supported by CPISRA and will be played in accordance with the Laws of the Game as laid down by the International Football Association Board (IFAB) and published by FIFA with some exception made by CPISRA for seven-a-side football.

On March 30-31, players will undergo classification by CPISRA officials headed by its Classification Officer Joan Steele-Mills to provide players and their coaches with a deeper understanding about classification and training practices for players with cerebral palsy.

Six referees have been selected from AFC's MAs to cover the tournament including graduating AFC Project Future Referees from Bahrain, Uzbekistan, China and Oman as well as FIFA referees from India and Malaysia.

The referees will participate in a one-day referee workshop on disabled football led by Referee Instructor Stuart Sharp from Scotland.

AFC has also been arranging elite coaching courses for disability football throughout Asia and is now taking it a step further by combining the education and competition elements through the Dream Asia movement.

AFC's social responsibility initiatives are carried out under Dream Asia which is a movement that uses football for positive social change. It is led by the AFC, a centre of expertise and coordinator of a global network of organisations in the field of development through football.

The Pararoos, are funded by the Australian Paralympic Committee and supported by Football Federation Australia.

The squad for the tournament is below:

David Barber (Captain) - QLD Chris Pyne (Vice Captain) - NSW Ben Atkins - NSW Chris Barty - WA Michael Debenham - WA Jared Eiby - QLD Brett Fairhall - NSW Ryan Kinner - SA Connor Marsh - NSW Joshua Seaman - SA James Turner - NSW Jack Williams - NSW