Today marked the opening of the 2024 Halberg Games, a celebration of inclusivity, determination, and comradery. 220 (aged 8-21) participants from across New Zealand, gathered at King’s College for a weekend bound to be filled with ‘Moments of Joy’.
The festivities commenced with an opening ceremony, featuring an athlete parade, and inspirational speeches from Halberg Games Ambassador Paula Tesoriero and Cameron Leslie – who also won ISPS Handa Para Athlete/Para Team of the Year award at this years 61st ISPS Handa Halberg Awards.
Members of the Halberg Youth Council – a group of young leaders from around the country representing the voice of physically disabled young people and supporting Halberg programmes -played key roles in the ceremony including Sionann Murphy who read the athlete oath and lit the Games’ flame.
Over the next three days the Games, will see participants represent 15 regional teams supported by the Parafed Network of New Zealand, competes across 30 different sports including; swimming, wheelchair basketball, netball, wheelchair rugby and athletics.
Regional teams included; Northland, Auckland, Waikato, Bay of Plenty, Gisborne, Hawkes Bay, Taranaki, Manawatu, Whanganui, Wellington, Tasman, Canterbury, South Canterbury, Otago and Southland.
The event will wrap up on Sunday 21 April with a Closing Ceremony with the presentation of medals and trophies and the prestigious Sir Murray Halberg Cup, for the Most Outstanding Athlete of the Halberg Games.
A huge thank you to partners and suppliers who filled the goodie bags with epic items for our athletes this year; Griffins, Lindsay Foundation, Colgate, Johnson & Johnson, Alliance Marketing (Glow Lab), EcoStore, Vertical Logistics, Rugby NZ and permobile.
For more information about the Halberg Games, including event schedules and how to get involved, please visit www.halberg.co.nz
