How access to Para Sport changed Michael Ozanne’s life

At the age of 19, Michael Ozanne was lying in a hospital bed, with a broken neck, wondering what his life was now going to look like after acquiring quadriplegia.

In a sliding doors moment, the Queensland wheelchair rugby team visited the hospital during his extended stay for a sporting demonstration that changed the course of Michael’s life.

Fast forward 18 years later and Michael has been a member of the Aussie Steelers Wheelchair Ruby team for more than a decade, is a two-time World Champion and Tokyo 2020 Paralympian. As a team veteran, he is preparing to head to Japan as a senior leader for a development team to help guide the next generation of wheelchair rugby athletes, before hoping to quality for the 2026 World Championships.

When Michael first started playing, he had no intention of representing Australia at an elite level but was drawn to the wheelchair rugby community. Now, he encourages others to jump onto the Paralympics Australia website to find a Come & Try Day and meet other like-minded individuals.

“[When I started wheelchair rugby, it] was just about the community, I had no aspirations to play, I just liked going to training. It was hanging out with the guys, people who had been in chairs for longer than me and hearing how they think about things and how they work stuff out and do things. It just made my life a lot easier.

“So if you’re sitting at home and you want to get in touch with people, sport is a great way to do it and it’s a great way to get involved with different people who are going through the same things you are.

“Give it a go, because it could honestly change your life,” he encourages.

With planning in progress, Queensland will be home to five new indoor sports centres, featuring over 50 new courts, that will be available for community use well before the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games. With the recent announcements of the new Moreton Bay Indoor Sports Centre, the new Logan Indoor Sports Centre and the new Chandler Indoor Sports Centre, Michael said other young athletes will now have greater opportunities to access life-changing Para Sport.

“More venues and more accessibility means we can host more events, and more Come & Try days, and more community games,” he said.

"Para sports are growing so much, especially with Brisbane 2032 there’s such a push for it, so having venues that will be able to accommodate all the different para sports, it will really help the sports grow.”

Michael currently spends more than two hours in the car most days, traveling to the Chandler Indoor Sports Centre for training with the Steelers. Therefore, the Moreton Bay local is particularly excited for the new centre in his area at The Mill Precinct in Petrie, and the opportunity it could provide for closer training and competitions on his doorstep for family and friends to watch him in action.

“To have a world-class brand-new venue in Moreton Bay, close to home, that I would potentially be able to train in, and that might be open to us having competitions ... would be absolutely awesome,” he said.

“Hopefully we can get some world-class events there. I would love to see an international tournament in Brisbane, especially in Moreton Bay. I never get to play in front of my friends and family in Brisbane, so having a venue that would be able to do that will be amazing.

“I know where the Petrie Precinct is, I often take the kids to The Mill Waterpark. It’s a really good area and it will be a really good venue.

“Having a brand-new state-of-the-art venue that’s fully accessible is going to be great for the area, great for the region.”

Learn more about the new Moreton Bay Indoor Sports Centre.