Squad Announced - 2025 Asia Pacific Oceania Powerchair Football Cup
Australian Powerchair Football Association
Australia’s Powerchair Football athletes compete at the highest level of competition without the support of national or governing body funding.
The Poweroos are entirely self-funded with costs borne by the players and their families.
Team photos: https://www.apfa.org.au/gallery/
Video: https://www.youtube.com/@australianpowerchairfootball
6 AUGUST 2025: Australian Powerchair Football Association (APFA) has announced the squad that will defend the Asia Pacific Oceania (APO) Powerchair Football Cup Champions title in Brisbane in October.
Following a training camp held in Sydney during July 2025, eight players have been selected for the Poweroos squad to represent Australia at the 2025 Asia Pacific Oceania (APO) Cup from October 15 to 17.
Santo Bongiovanni (South Australia), Luke David (Victoria), Rebecca Evans (Victoria), Chris Hastas (NSW), Dimitri Liolio-Davis (NSW), Jack Parry (QLD), Tristam Peters (QLD) and Ryan Seck (NSW) will defend the APO Cup Champion title secured in 2019.
“This squad represents the perfect blend of experience and exciting new talent,” said Robert Wright, Head Coach of the Australian Poweroos.
“We’re thrilled to welcome four debut players who bring fresh energy to the group, alongside seasoned athletes who know what it takes to compete at the highest level. The team is focused, hungry, and ready to defend our title on home soil.”
“It’s always an honour to wear the green and gold,” said Rebecca Evans, Poweroos player.
“This team means everything to me, the commitment, the community, the chance to play the sport I love at the highest level. We’ve been training hard, and I can’t wait to hit the court in Brisbane and show how far we’ve come.”
The squad includes four players making their senior Poweroos debut: Bongiovanni, Hastas, Parry and Seck.
Poweroo veteran and Vice-Captain, Josh Merkas, recently announced his retirement from international level competition following a long and decorated career that included five international tournaments with the Poweroos team.
During September, the Poweroos squad will complete a training camp in Melbourne before arriving in Brisbane a few days ahead of the competition for a final camp to consolidate their game plan.
The 2025 APO Cup will be held at Brisbane’s Nissan Arena from 15 to 17 October 2025. It brings the National Powerchair Football teams from Japan, New Zealand, South Korea and Australia together, with the winner crowned as APO Champions.
The top two teams from the 2025 APO Cup will qualify for the 2026 FIPFA Powerchair Football World Cup to be held in Argentina.
This will be the third time Australia has hosted this event with the last APO Cup held in Sydney and where the Poweroos secured the Champions title after remaining undefeated.
About us:
Australian Powerchair Football Association (APFA) is a FIPFA-affiliated body, allowing Australia to compete in and host international level competitions. APFA and Australia have hosted both APO Cup tournaments in 2013 and 2019 and the FIPFA World Cup in 2023.
Fédération Internationale de Powerchair Football Association (FIPFA) is the peak international body for Powerchair Football.
The Australian Poweroos are our country’s national Powerchair Football team. Currently ranked sixth (6th) in the world, and first (1st) in the region, they represent Australia on the international stage and have competed at various international tournaments at regional and global level.
Established in 2011, they debuted at the 2011 FIPFA World Cup in Paris with a seventh (7th) place finish and have rapidly ascended in international Powerchair football with fourth (4th) place at the 2017 World Cup in Florida.
Rules of Powerchair Football and Court set up can be found at: https://www.apfa.org.au/documents/
For more information and results, see apfa.org.au/australian-poweroos/
APFA supports responsible reporting in media. Our athletes and community members are redefining “diversity” and what is possible when you focus on “ability”.
How people with a disability are portrayed in the media matters and we encourage all journalists and media outlets to refer to Media Diversity Australia’s “Disability Reporting Handbook”.
https://www.mediadiversityaustralia.org/disability-reporting-handbook/.
Contact details:
Kristy Yeadon, APFA President, 0408 884 385, [email protected]
