‘Best game’ pays off for keen player Mark in NZ team
Whanganui basketballer Mark Cressingham is off to Abu Dhabi in March next year as part of the New Zealand team to compete in the Special Olympics World Summer Games.
“I had to go to Nationals and play the best game of my life,” says Mark, describing how he was picked for the team. The Manawatu team that Mark plays for came second.
There is a Whanganui team but Mark, playing A Grade, is a grade above them.
Mark is no stranger to overseas competition, having competed as a runner in the Summer Games in Shanghai in 2007. He came home with a silver and a bronze.
He joined Special Olympics in 2005.
Although he made a name for himself as a runner, at 6 feet 5 inches (1.65m), he is suited to basketball.
“I wanted to try team sports and I love playing basketball,” he says.
He is still in the Harriers Club and often helps out during club days and competitions.
Mark works as a driver for Wanganui Enterprises and also helps around the shop. His days are busy with helping train the local Special Olympics basketball team, travelling to Palmerston North for his own training sessions and playing social league basketball in Whanganui.
He also helps his grandmothers with chores and their shopping.
On top of that he is working and fundraising for the trip to United Arab Emirates.
“I’ll be away for close to a month,” he says. That time includes a 10-day stopover in Singapore to acclimatise. “We’ve got to try and get used to the heat.”
Mark will also be attending a number of camps before going away, to meet and get to know his team mates.
“Every time I train, I train harder. That’s the only way to get better.”