How Parasport helped a young athlete reject the pressures of mainstream sport

One year ago, Sarah Clarke was participating in her first Halberg Games and tried playing table tennis on the last day on a whim.

“I wasn't even gonna show up,” she laughs. “I was absolutely terrible. I didn't hit one ball on the other side of the table.”

But twelve months later and she’s on a pathway to become a professional table tennis athlete, training five times a week with a coach and aiming for selection for the Oceania Para Championships in September 2026.

Prior to table tennis, the 21-year-old from Hamilton grew up playing lots of different sports including netball, inline hockey, dance, gymnastics and even powerlifting.

At primary and intermediate school, she says she felt pressure to keep up with mainstream sport. “All my friends did sports and I was like, ‘Okay, sport is a normal person thing. If I wanna fit in with everyone, I have to do sport’.”

“I don't feel like you should be feeling those pressures that young,” she says. “I couldn't really abide with those pressures because my body wasn't at the position where it could.”

But something shifted at high school when she was introduced to Parasport at 15 years old. “I think that's when it turned from something I had to do to something I wanted to do, which is kind of why I chose to pursue it outside school and in the gym.”

She says finding a group of athletes with similar experiences to herself made her feel less alone.

“Without having the access to disability sport - I had a passion for sport, but no sport was accessible enough for me - I sat on the sidelines at P.E. I couldn't participate, you know?”

“It's rewarding, it's an outlet,” she says. “It's hard when you live with a disability to be stuck in your own head, but for me when I was lifting or when I was training, I could completely detach myself from my situation.”

The pivot to table tennis was unexpected, but credits Parafed Waikato for running an eight-week introductory program which gave her the opportunity to thrive in the sport. She says it’s been “full-on since then”. 

“I did that program and you couldn't get me to leave the stadium,” she says. “Just something about it, every time the ball hit the table, it's just joy for me.”

But she also has her own determination and talent to thank: “I'm a perfectionist and I'm stubborn.”

Finding a sport she is passionate about has also helped her find her identity as an athlete: “I wasn't just a person with a disability, like I found in school.”

Outside of sport, she’s a graphic designer for disability support provider Clipboard and also plays a governance role on the Halberg Youth Council. In her role on the council, she’s been supporting the organisation with social media, designing the merch, running events and contributing to behind-the-scenes meetings.

“I just love to give back to a space that's given me so much.”

This year’s Halberg Games will be Clarke’s last as she ages out of the age bracket, so she’s trying all the sports. “I chucked myself into everything,” she laughs. 

Beyond the sport, there are friendships and connections in the organisation which also play an important part in Clarke’s life.

“Halberg Games is so special because for the first time I found that everyone is on the same playing field, there's no judgment,” she says. “There's a sense of unity without even knowing the person. You can just get cracking on and build friendships and connections and memories.”

The Halberg Games run from 23 - 26 April at Kings College in Tāmaki Makaurau.

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