Aiming high after humble beginnings on court

By Melanie Louden

Not only did boccia save Max Wymer’s life
…it became his way of life. 

Max Wymer’s journey into boccia is a tale of Kiwi ingenuity at its best.

When he first started playing, he used an upside-down gutter ball board for a chute, before upgrading to a half-pipe.

His boccia accessories were often creative inventions sourced by his problem-solving mother Lara Wymer. A number of them featured duct tape.

Many of her creative pieces of equipment are still in use – like the muffin tray to hold the boccia balls, that attaches to Max’s power chair using bungy cords so that it rests in his lap.  

When Max, who lives with Cerebral Palsy – Hōkai Nukurangi, first started playing, neither he nor Lara knew the rules, so “we’ve figured the game out as we’ve gone along”.

But from humble beginnings has come a life dedicated to boccia.

Boccia is a cross between lawn bowls and pétanque, that relies on precision, technique and the strategic placement of weighted balls. It can be played by people of any age and ability.

20-year-old Max lives and breathes it – he says it’s his full-time job.

When Max is playing boccia he is “living his best life and socialising”, says Lara. When he’s not playing boccia, he’s watching it for fun or to study his opposition during their tournaments.

Max has only been playing since 2021, but he has found early success.

He’s won bronze medals at both the South Island and North Island regional competitions, and this October he’s competing nationally with the long-term goal of taking part in international events. 

His achievements are made all the more impressive by the fact that Max is almost legally blind – he can only see six metres in front of him, sees using only one eye at a time and has no depth perception.

“And he’s picked a sport that relies on depth perception,” laughs Lara.

“My goal is to be a Paralympian,” says Max, who is inspired by Troy Robertson, one of the top players in the country.

“Max wants to hear the national anthem when they are putting a medal around his neck,” Lara says. “I have no doubt he will do it.”

Max is quick to add: “I will do it more than once.”

He has also passed the boccia bug onto his girlfriend Georgia, 21, who lives with Cerebral Palsy.

Max has taught her how to play and his goal is to partner her in the doubles version of the game.

The sport changed her life too.

“Georgia was about to leave school and didn’t know what she wanted to do, what she liked doing. He has 100 percent given her purpose in life,” Lara says.

Max has started a Boccia club in the community, and at his school, Waitakere College, and has visited resthomes to teach residents how to play.

“What he’s found in that love of life, sport and boccia, he’s gifting to anyone who wants to learn,” Lara says.

She says the team at Disability Sport Auckland, especially Aleisha Ritchie, and Halberg have been a huge support to Max and instrumental in his development as a player.

“I can’t speak highly enough of them,” she says.

Max’s introduction to boccia came about thanks to a change in powerchair.

As a young lad, he had been enjoying playing powerchair soccer, but a new chair that was not equipped for the sport meant he could no longer play.

It was six years before Max came across boccia and in that time he hit rock bottom – the lack of socialisation and not being physically and mentally active led to depression.

“Boccia saved my life,” Max says.

He had found a sport that not only he could play, but one that his tight-knit family could join in on.

Boccia players compete by throwing balls or using a ramp to roll balls with the support of a ramp assistant – as Max does.

Ramp assistants are like a mechanical arm, Lara says. They are not allowed to talk to the player and can’t watch the game. Only the player can talk to pass on instructions.

Max’s ramp assistant is his brother-in-law Nick – who is married to Max’s sister Jazmin. Max and Nick’s bond is so tight that Max was best man at their recent wedding.

Lara says Max has always had to watch his four siblings play sports, and school sport was never really that inclusive – despite the teachers’ efforts.

“Sports is everything to him,” she says. “Max has been mad about sport all his life.”

He loves to do the haka and go to Warriors and All Blacks games. His sit-to-stand powerchair means he can proudly stand for the national anthem.

Max was eight months old when he was diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy.

He was Lara’s third baby and she quickly realised Max wasn’t hitting milestones like his two sisters.

Some people suggested the delay was because he had cholic, others suggested it was because boys are slower than girls to hit milestones.

But Lara wasn’t convinced.

“By six months he’s not sitting independently. A lot of things were not quite right.”

While waiting for an appointment with a paediatrician, Lara took Max to Conductive Education where the diagnosis was made.

Max has been a member of the Cerebral Palsy Society since he was diagnosed, and Lara says right from the beginning the Society has been “a comforting umbrella that I know is always there”.

She has used getPhysical funding for Max’s swimming lessons and getThis&That for medical supplies.

Lara says she feels blessed to be accompanying her son on his boccia journey.

“I have so much respect for the players. It’s a family of awe inspiring, cut-throat, people who are your best mates.” 

* Max is sharing his story to support the Cerebral Palsy Society’s annual fundraising and awareness campaign, Be Green & Be Seen | Kia Kākāriki, Kia Kitea.  

The campaign aims to raise awareness of the impact of living with Cerebral Palsy – Hōkai Nukurangi while also raising much-needed funds for the Society’s e-card funding pogramme.  

The getProgramme helps members access products and services that keep them included and participating in society, as well as improving their quality of life and wellbeing. 

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Be Green & Be Seen is the Cerebral Palsy Society of NZ’s annual awareness and fundraising campaign. You can find out all about the campaign here.  

 

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