Chris Kessaris, 27, is gearing up for the 2021 Australian Club Championships held in October, with hopes that it will still go ahead without any possible lockdown disruptions.
The powerchair footballer has been living with spinal muscular atrophy type 2 since birth and plays for South Melbourne’s Powerchair Football team. There was a time however, where he wasn’t sure it was possible for him to participate in the game he loved.
“I’m a huge sports fan, I always have been and I love my football, AFL and all sorts of different sports. I’m in a wheelchair so I was always under the impression there wasn’t any opportunity for me to express my love for football,” Kessaris told Neos Kosmos.
There was some initial hesitation on his part before joining the powerchair team, as he often found that spaces that were disability inclusive were not considered to be as ‘serious’ as able bodied ones.
“It was crazy, the amount of competitiveness and ferocity everyone shows on court, which is something that communicates well with me because I am a very fiery and competitive person naturally. I didn’t want it to be patronising because I knew I would get angry and upset,” Kessaris said.
Make no mistake, the game itself is not child’s play and carries it own unique set of challenges.
“I don’t think people realise how difficult it is to play. If any able bodied person got into our strike force and tried to control the ball, there would be no chance,” Kessaris explained.
The powerchair footballer talks about his start in the sport, playing to his teammates strengths and making it to the national stage.
READ MORE: Stepping up to seniors: Q&A with South Melbourne’s Kiara Hronopoulos
What drew you to powerchair football?
I actually met the president of Powerchair Sports Victoria Luke David, many many years ago when I went to a muscular dystrophy association camp. It’s one of those retreats kids go to so that parents can get some respite.
I was about eight years old back then. I didn’t really know about the sports until I was probably 16 or 17, but at the time I had so much on with high school and then I had uni and it wasn’t the right time for me to jump into something like that. Year after year he would keep sending for me and trying to get me to come and watch at least.
The thing is, in my mind, I had this impression of powerchair sports, as sort of like a patronising, gimmicky thing. I know it sounds horrible but I thought it was going to be like ‘oh yay, you scored a goal’. I had never actually watched a game and I think that was my biggest mistake, I never gave it a chance because I had that mental thing, but then I thought I’m just going to go check it out. This was when I finished uni so I had a lot of time on my hands. The second I saw it, I said ‘holy s***, I’m going to do this’.
It’s game day, what do you do to get in the zone before the match?
Normally my dad runs me to the games so I put my headphones in and listen to a playlist or two to get myself pumped. I might talk tactics with my dad or my carer because they’re very involved with football in general. It really depends how I feel on the day.
If it’s a championship round I’ll try to relax because I don’t want to think about too much going into an important game like that. But if it’s just a normal season round, (of course every game is important) I like to talk tactics and see what I can improve on and set goals.
Top 3 training songs?
The thing is that I listen to a lot of different stuff. I listen to a lot of Greek music and English music as well, a lot of Spanish music. Anything that’s sort of upbeat, that’s what I listen to. I don’t really know about specific songs, but I must say I’m a massive Selena Gomez fan.
What do you find most challenging about the game?
I think a lot of it is understanding your teammates strengths and weaknesses. In a game like powerchair football, you need to understand who’s capable of doing a spin kick, who’s capable of hitting it with the front of their guard. That way you can adjust the way you set up the ball for them.
Let’s be honest, not everyone’s going to be on the same level as it is in any sport. If you’ve got a really slow target man up front, you don’t pass the ball ahead of them into space for them to run on to, you play to their strengths. You need to understand your own strengths and weaknesses as well because you need to adapt that you set up in your chair.
The standard of wheelchair is the same, unless you’ve got a day chair that you use, but everyone’s shifting to sports wheels at the moment. So it’s not a limitation of hardware, but a lot of the time it is a strengths limitation. So some players can’t see behind them, some players don’t have that quick movement. Although their full speed is the same they can’t react in time and that’s just down to physical capability. So as long as you know your teammates abilities, it really helps.
It’s unlike any other sport where you can work on things, because you need to find ways to adapt. But I’m really inspired by how some of the international teams go about it. The MVP of the world, he’s from Sydney and he plays with his feet because he has no arms. You think, if he can do that, anything’s possible.
What has been a highlight in your sporting career thus far?
One of the biggest highlights for me was getting our first win as South Melbourne at the club championships. We’re still a developing league here in Victoria so we are starting to get a lot more competitive because we’ve got more players now, with the right equipment.
They’ve got strike forces now, so I think all of us have strike forces in the first team which is really good. I remember two or three years ago we got our first win because we went there, we were really struggling because we didn’t really have personal experience or the chairs to be able to compete. But when we got that first win, it was an amazing moment. I think we really solidified our position as an up and coming team and I’m really looking forward to October because I think we’ll surprise a lot of the top teams this year. We have a lot of players that have stepped up and have the necessary equipment.
How has powerchair football impacted your life?
Majorly. I now have something to express my competitive spirit rather than just playing FIFA, I’ve broken enough controllers and I don’t have to money to keep spending on them.
Mentally it’s had a massive impact, my confidence has immensely grown and my ability to lead has grown as well. A lot of the time I have a leadership position on and off the court so it really helps mentoring the juniors and help them build up those skills as well. I tutor as well so I use those skills to communicate and educate. But socially, that’s where the greatest impact is. I’ve made so many friends in that circle where we go out now drinking, clubbing, whatever, like any teammates would do in any sports.
What is something you learned about yourself through playing the game?
If you set your mind to something, anything’s achievable. After all these years thinking ‘oh, I can’t play sport’, I obviously can play sport. It’s just a different kind of sport.
But also that I can be a leader, I can lead a team, I can help out with mentoring, I can do all that. I didn’t think that I would be assertive enough to do that, but I found that I definitely am.
What do you hope to achieve in the next year?
In relation to sport I’m really hoping to improve my game, as well as the team improving their game so we can really compete well at the club championships and get a few wins on the board. We’re not going there to participate anymore, we’re going to get results.
For me personally, I’m working at the moment as a finance manager at a disability support agency but my boss has started a new business and he wants me to be the CFO so that’s going to be my new role. I’m hoping to get that launched sometime in the next month.
What’s something someone might be surprised to learn about you?
I’ve got a hidden musical talent, I actually create mashups. I’ve got my own YouTube channel. I’ve been making mashups for many years, probably 10, 11 years now. Both of my parents are musicians so I’ve got that musical background.
Favourite way to unwind after a game?
My favourite way to unwind is going home, where mum is going to make me something nice to eat and just watch the footy. Just get all the crap out of my head from the day and the fury at the refereeing decisions.
What are you most looking forward to in 2021?
The October club championships, I think that’s the biggest thing I’m looking forward to.
What is something you want to be remembered by?
One day I want to represent Australia, I think that’s one of my biggest goals and dreams I’d like to achieve.
I went to Greece a few years ago and watched the wheelchair boccia tournament they play there, I spoke to one of the guys who is in charge of disability sports in Athens and I was explaining powerchair sports to him, because they don’t have powerchair football in Greece. I think it’s a real shame, because there are a lot of athletes there that would be passionate football fans and the only reason they don’t have it is because there’s not enough money there to buy them powerchairs, let alone to get them strike forces and programs to be able to pay for all these training sessions. I think one of the things I would like to see from a personal standpoint is for Greece to start making their own powerchair league and have a national team. If that happens, I would love to captain them. In Europe most of the countries have powerchair teams.
What do you think is the greatest misconception when it comes to disability and sports?
I think there’s a massive ignorance and not by anyone’s fault, but they just don’t know that these things exist. I think that’s one of the biggest things. But another thing is that they think it’s a joke, they think it’s fun and game. I don’t think they understand that it’s just as furious as any other sport. I think that’s one of the biggest things that infuriates me.
When people say ‘oh, did you have fun?’ I hate that, do you honestly ask Premier League players if they’ve had fun? Of course I had fun, but that’s not the point, the point is the competitive game, why are you treating it this way? I think a lot of that has to do with just that common misconception that people with disabilities are not as driven or as passionate because people don’t see those passion because they haven’t been given those opportunities to express that.