About Us
dsport is a charity managed by a board of elected volunteers.
Our vision is for Wellington to be a diverse and inclusive region.
dsport is underpinned by the principles of inspire, enable, achieve.
We inspire disabled people to believe in themselves. To aspire to being involved in sport and active recreation. To dream.
We enable disabled people to get into sport and active recreation. We don’t believe in can’t. Rather how can we. How can we make this fun and make this work? We persevere and we build strength collectively.
But more importantly, our members achieve. They overcome adversity, find work-arounds and creative solutions to achieve. And for some, they will achieve their dreams.
dsport was previously known as Parafed Wellington.
Committee Members
Ross Hanning - Chair
Ross's son is an aspiring field athlete with the New Zealand silver fern firmly in his sights. Ross has taken over financial responsibility for the committee and brings business and sport govenance experience to the table. Ross is a qualified Athletics NZ official.
Alan Signal - Treasurer
Alan has been Chair since 2015 and has now stepped back to take on the Treasurer role. Prior to this he was on the committee. Alan was a member of the dsport wheelchair rugby team and also represented us in wheelchair basketball. Alan works for Laura Fergusson Trust providing support for disabled members of our community.
Denise Harrison
Denise has been on our committee for a number of years and brings the perspective of a parent and sport volunteer. Denise is a Boccia ramp assistant to her son and has helped manage our travelling Boccia team.
Shaun Markham
dsport welcomes Shaun to the committee. Shaun is an avid sports fan and is a Para athlete and an Athletics NZ official. He works for the Reserve Bank as an Economist, having graduated from University of Otago with a Masters degree in Economics.
Staff
Dr Catriona McBean - Manager
Catriona is not only Manager here at dsport, she is also a board member of Paralympics New Zealand, representing New Zealand internationally in this role at the 2022 Beijing Winter Paralympic Games and with the Oceania Paralympic Committee. Catriona has volunteered at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games and the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Paralympic Games. She has also helped establish the Kiribati National Paralympic Committee. Catriona has a PhD in disability sport from the University of Waikato. Her thesis "I forget I have a disability" looks at how an anti-ableist sport system can be established in New Zealand. Prior to joining dsport, Catriona has managed a range of sports organisations including Swimming NZ, Sport & Exercise NZ, Orienteering NZ and oversaw sport and recreation at Victoria University.
022 620 9763