Lilian's Tree

Friday 26 October and it was an early start, for us as we had to be seated by 8.00am for the Wheelchair Basket to start at 9.00am. And it was well worth it! An interesting fact; wheelchair basketball was first played on 25 November 1946, when a group of American Veterans wanted to become active again, after suffering spinal cord injuries, in World War II. For the details of how it is played, please see my previous post; Invictus Games, For Our Wounded Warriors Part 1,   http://researchbylily.blogspot.com/2018/10/invictus-games-2018-for-our-wounded.html Fast and furious is the only was to describe the two games we saw. Game one was New Zealand v Canada, with New Zealand winning. Again the mateship shone through, with both coahes going to the aid of players, who had tipped their chairs over. They were also cheered, like the players, were. There was also a bit of fun, with a Kiwi player giving the referee the evil eye, and the referee and player laughing about it. Such ...

For three days this week I have been privileged to watch some amazing athletes from 18 counteries. But I digress, as I should first explain what the Invictus Games are. The Invictus Games are the brainchild of HRH The Duke of Sussex, back when he was a serving member of the British Forces, in Afghasistan. He speaks of returning to Britian, by plane, with several critically injured servicemen and the body of a Danish soldier. He later saw the Warrior Games in the USA and from there the idea was born. This link explains it better.     https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invictus_Games This link is to the Australian games site.  https://www.invictusgames2018.org/the-games/ (Just a note all sports have been adapted due to special needs of the competitors. These are explained on the website.) Tuesday 23 October and my daughter and I had tickets for the medal rounds of  Sitting Volleyball. Walking from the P1 parking to the Quaycentre was a hike, (yes I know chec...