‘‘I’ll be a pain the arse and get in the way’’ Wheel Blacks captain Gavin Rolton gears up for Tokyo
Gavin Rolton tells Ian Anderson he’s entrusted with the dirty work for the NZ wheelchair rugby team at the Paralympic Games.
Gavin Rolton says he’s going to Tokyo to be a pain in the butt.
Rolton captains the Wheel Blacks, New Zealand’s wheelchair rugby team to compete at the Paralympic Games, starting in Tokyo in August.
The Wellington-based athlete will play the role of a ‘lowpointer’ in the NZ team who will face the Rio 2016 silver medallists the US, Great Britain and Canada in their pool, after qualifying for the
Paralympics for the first time since
Beijing in 2008. ‘‘I’m a low-pointer – it’s a bit like gridiron, screening and running blocks for the ball carrier and then defensively trying to hook up those faster players and be a pain the arse and get in the way,’’ Rolton said.
‘‘There’s a lot of tactics in the game.
‘‘It’s a bit like rugby, when you watch there’s rucks and mauls, and you don’t really understand what’s going on. There’s so many different kind of fouls that can happen; a lot of strategies against other teams and different lineups. ‘‘We work really hard on trying to counteract what another team is going to do to us, and what we can do to them.’’ Rolton, the long-time captain of the side and one of the best 0.5-point players in the world, explained that the players utilise two different chairs.
The offensive chair, is a lot rounder and more manoeuvrable, whereas the low-point chair is longer and has bars on the front to try to hook up to those faster players. His own chair purchased recently cost $14,000. ‘‘We’ve all got different disabilities and different functions, so you get a point value, and you can field eight points at one time [among four players on the court].
‘‘So it’s a combination of guys that are more functional, and then you need someone like me who’s not as functional to balance out those points.’’
The 37-year-old is relishing the chance to compete in Tokyo after heartbreaks of narrowly missing qualification for the past two Games.
‘‘I was a part of the team when we didn’t qualify for the London Olympics, and then also for Rio.
‘‘Missing out by two points each time was pretty devastating, so to finally qualify has been a huge relief.’’
Rolton has tetraplegia – no feeling from his collarbone downwards and with limited movement in his arms and no movement in his fingers – following an accident 16 years ago.
‘‘I was 22, in Australia at the time, a pretty carefree kind of life.
‘‘I was probably living life at a hundred miles an hour. And I dived into a river, which really slowed things
down a bit for me. ‘‘It was pretty challenging, to come home and do the rehab and get going back into life again. You’ve got to have that adjustment period.
‘‘I suppose for myself I’ve always been fairly independent and lived life to the full, and that really helped and I’ve tried to carry that on.’’
Rolton was a furniture maker and carpenter prior to his accident.
‘‘I always worked with my hands and not quite having the use any more, you’ve got to change your thought process.
‘‘I suppose with my sport, that helped me with confidence and just to know you can get back out there and achieve things.’’
He’s now a topperforming employee at healthcare provider Drake Medox.
‘‘Getting involved with rugby and sport opened other pathways, and then I got into work again.
‘‘When I was in the spinal unit, guys that played wheelchair rugby, they’d come through the unit, have a chat to you and let you know rugby’s out there – it’s a pretty good community like that, so I got into it straight away.’’
While there are doubts about the safety and sense of the Olympics, Rolton said concerns from the team were at a minimum.
‘‘Obviously as a para athlete, we’ve gone through things in our lives and I suppose we become a bit more resilient.
‘‘So you just take it as it comes – you can’t get too hung up on what’s happening — you’ve just got to focus on what we can do right now really.’’
‘‘I was a part of the team when we didn’t qualify for the London Olympics, and then also for Rio . . .’’