Sport
28 June, 2024
Holt aims for Comm Games
DERRINALLUM resident Brooke Holt has lofty goals after winning silver at the Australian National Para Badminton Championships 2024 last month.
Ms Holt has her eyes set on the 2026 Commonwealth Games, with ambitions to represent Australia at the Paralympics in either dressage or her new love badminton.
She said her first para badminton tournament was in 2022.
“I’d only been playing in a borrowed wheelchair four weeks, and I won bronze with the singles and the doubles,” Ms Holt said.
“After how I went with that, I thought I’d continue doing it.
“It was only by chance that I started playing wheelchair badminton because the horse I’d originally bought to try and help get me to Paris for the Para Dressage didn’t want to get out.
“I was playing standing with the retired people in Ocean Grove, and they told me about a group in Altona that was for people with disabilities and I thought I’d go up and meet them and give it a go.”
This first tournament, however, was not without issues.
“I had a hiccup when I first started playing – I was given a chair to borrow, and the height of the back was impacting my back,” Ms Holt said.
“It flared up my original injury and I had 18 months out of the sport.”
Playing on day three of the National Para Badminton Championships in May, Ms Holt said she competed against teams from almost every state in Australia.
“WA (Western Australia), South Australia, Victoria and New South Wales had a team – Queensland and Tasmania were the only ones that didn’t have a team,” she said.
“It was a chance for all of us to get together. There’s a couple who have qualified for Paris.
“They try and hold one every 12 months, but depending on numbers, it could be one every two years.
“It was the biggest turnout they’ve had since they have been running the nationals – I’m not sure how many people were there exactly, but there could have easily been about 50 of us.”
Ms Holt’s silver medal was a shared effort with a competitor from South Australia, something she said she was proud of.
“It wasn’t a bad effort considering we had never played together before that,” she said.
“I’m pretty excited and pleased about it.
“She’d (my partner) never won a medal before, so I was pretty stoked that I could be her partner to win her first medal – she’d been playing a lot longer than me.
“I’m just hoping to partner with the lady again.”
With the National Para Badminton Championships over, Ms Holt has resumed her busy training schedule.
On Mondays, she will be heading to Melbourne to train as part of the State Development Squad.
Additionally, she will participate in training sessions in Geelong and Ballarat, as well as hiring the Derrinallum Hall for training closer to home.
Ms Holt said while she missed out on qualifying for Paris due to missing overseas badminton tournaments during her break, she hopes to be able to compete in dressage up in Brisbane.
“I did alright with the sport over the years, but I was never good enough to be on that level. It wasn’t until after my accident and getting involved with para sport that I thought I’ve got a shot at really trying to get to the Paralympics, whether I do the equestrian or the badminton,” she said.
“I thought ‘can’t work anymore - might as well get out there and try and play’.
“It’s a nice way to get out and meet people, especially other people with disabilities.
“Because I wasn’t born with a disability, I found it helpful to get some tips with learning how to play.”
In addition to her Paralympic dreams, Ms Holt also wants to be an inspiration to the community through showing regional people with disabilities they can still participate in high-level sports.
She said a conversation at Derrinallum’s Post Office inspired her to think of ways to encourage the community to play badminton.
“I heard badminton used to be pretty big in Derrinallum years ago,” she said.
“The lady at the Post Office was telling me about it because she used to play.
“I’m hoping, once I get a bit more organised, I can go up to the school and try and get a group going for both able-bodied and people with a disability to come and have a hit and a bit of fun.
“It’s a good way to meet people, and a few people say there’s a few bored people in town.”