Ken Wyatt (Hasluck, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I stand here today to draw attention to the good work of the West Rise Disability Competition in Kalamunda. West Rise is a competition for intellectually disabled people within Hasluck and Perth's eastern suburbs and is the first such basketball competition of its kind in Western Australia. West Rise brings together over 40 people aged 12 and upwards with an intellectual disability and teaches them, through sport, skills such as teamwork and commitment and promotes confidence building. It has proven so successful that it has now expanded into two divisions to allow for more specialised coaching. What is so great about this program is that it is often held alongside mainstream competitions and this inclusiveness with non-intellectually impaired people helps make these people feel closer to the community that they live in.

None of this would be possible without the hard work and dedication of coach and founder Chris Saligari. Chris works at the highly regarded Kalamunda Senior High School education support centre and saw first-hand the benefits of sport for the intellectually impaired. Despite not having any children or family of her own with a disability, Chris took time to start this competition and is ably assisted by her son and coach Michael Saligari and coach Ed Thime. I thank Chris for her commitment to helping others and for starting such a wonderful competition in Hasluck for the east metropolitan's intellectually impaired people. I am proud to be their patron.