Australian Captain: David Barber
David Barber, from Queensland, has been the Captain of the Australian National Paralympic Football Team for over 10 years. He is well known as one of the best Paralympic players not only in Australia but in the world.
David currently lives in Rockhampton and plays for Frenchville in the able bodied Queensland State League. He plays Sweeper up there for Frenchville and does a good job of it too.
As Head Coach I don’t think I could ever ask for a better Captain. David is a classy player; good striker of the ball; good mobility; great first touch and a solid defender. He takes on defenders and has good 1v1 ability. That’s not what makes him a great Captain though. David’s ability as a Captain comes from his ability to command respect. Not only from his team mates, but from the opposition and of course anybody else that comes in contact with him.
David motivates his team mates by sheer presence. He sets high standards for himself and the team and players both junior and senior want to emulate him.
At 176cm David is not overly tall, but has a solid build and plays with the ball close to his feet. Playing a game against Korea one afternoon, I saw him knock a Korean player to the ground in general play and in true ‘Barbs’ style he stopped and helped the guy up out of the mud that the Malaysian thunderstorm had created. He cares about people and with that comes the admiration and respect in return.
David is classed in the FT8 classification whereby his cerebral palsy doesn’t affect his play that much. In fact very little! There may be a slight limp at the end of a training session or some tightness at the end of the game, certainly nothing that he is not used to after playing for 25 years.
At 32 David is coming to the twilight of his playing days. He asked me once “Brownie, can I retire after the 2012 London Paralympics?” I said “sure”, but thinking that the team would definitely miss a player of Barbs character.
There are some good leaders in the squad that could follow in Barb’s footsteps like Christopher Pyne (NSW), Sam Larkings (NSW), Ben Atkins (NSW) all have proved themselves both on and off the pitch. The bottom line is that we still need ‘Barbs’ and will continue to for quite a while yet, especially with the World Championships (Netherlands) coming up in June. In fact we need a few more like him.
Football Federation Australia is currently looking for more potential Paralympic Football players to boost the ranks and represent their State and possibly their country at the 2012 London Paralympics.
So Barbs, I’m afraid you are still required for Australian duties for some time yet!
Paul Brown
National Head Coach
