Frank Ponta

Ponta was born in the Perth suburb of Subiaco on 8 November 1935, as the eldest of nine children. In 1947 he moved to Geraldton because his father had a job there in the building trade. He attended Christian Brothers schools in Leederville and Geraldton. At the age of fourteen or fifteen, he injured his back while diving off a wharf in Geraldton, which aggravated a tumour in his spinal column. The tumour was diagnosed when he was 17 and after it was removed, he lost the use of both his legs. He entered the spinal injury ward at Royal Perth Hospital in 1954 for rehabilitation, where he was trained in sports by John "Johno" Johnston. Ponta was a member of the first national wheelchair basketball team for Australia, formed in 1956, mostly composed of players from the spinal injury ward of Royal Perth Hospital. ==Competitive athletic career==

In 1957, Ponta competed at the Stoke Mandeville Games, the precursor to the Paralympic Games. He and teammate Bill Mather-Brown won a gold medal in Foil Novice team at the wheelchair fencing event. In the same year, Ponta and Mather-Brown also competed at the Welsh Challenge Cup, where the pair also won gold. Ponta competed in five Paralympic Games, including the first one held in Rome in 1960. As a Paralympic competitor, he won a gold medal, two silver medals and a bronze medal. He competed in several sports including wheelchair racing, wheelchair fencing, swimming and wheelchair basketball. At the 1960 Summer Paralympics, he competed in the Men's Precision Javelin, where he won a silver medal. He was a member of the Australian wheelchair basketball team at the 1962 Commonwealth Paraplegic Games in Perth. At the 1964 Summer Paralympics in Tokyo, Ponta competed in Class 2 Men's swimming in the 25 m breaststroke event, where he failed to medal. At those same games, he also competed in the class 2 Men's 25 m Freestyle Supine event, where he won a gold medal. He also competed in wheelchair fencing at the 1964 Games in the Eppee Team event, where he did not medal, and the Men's Foil Novice Individual, where he won a silver medal. At the 1968 Tel Aviv Games, he competed in the Class 2 Men's 25 m Breaststroke event, where he failed to medal. He also competed in the Men's 25 m Backstroke, where he won a bronze medal. He also competed in the 100 m Wheelchair race, the pentathlon complete, precision javelin open, slalom a, and in the wheelchair basketball team. He did not medal in any of these events. He competed without winning a medal at the 1972 Heidelberg Games in the discus, javelin, precision javelin, and the wheelchair basketball team. At the 1976 Toronto Games, he competed in the discus, javelin, pentathlon, precision javelin, and shot put events, and was also part of the wheelchair basketball team. He did not medal in any of these events. ==Coaching career==

Ponta coached several medal winning Paralympic athletes including Louise Sauvage and Priya Cooper. Ponta pushed junior athletes to make something of themselves and put an emphasis on sportsmanship. He is described by the Western Australian government as having devoted his life to the Wheelchair Sport Association as a coach and role model. One of Ponta's coaching skills was identifying which events that junior athletes would excel at. He did this with several athletes, including Sauvage. He transformed her from a sprinter to a middle and long distance competitor. Ponta coached Madison de Rozario, who won a medal at the 2008 Paralympic Games. de Rozario considers Frank Ponta one of her heroes. In 2003 and 2004, he coached athletics competitors Bruce Wallrodt and Bryan Stitfall, who had won a Western Australian Institute of Sport scholarship. ==Wheelchair basketball==

Ponta is credited with developing wheelchair basketball in Western Australia. Ponta coached the Western Australian youth team. He would remove any players who did not show good sportsmanship. ==Personal life==

Ponta married Margaret, a nurse, in 1962. They had four children: Mark, Andrew, Tanya, and Jamie. He died on 1 June 2011 in Perth after a long illness, at the age of 75. ==Recognition==

Ponta received the Sir Ludwig Guttman Award in 1984, and the Lord's Taverners Award in 1989, from Wheelchair Sports Australia. He received the Australian Sports Medal in 2000; his citation said: "Basketball Paralympian - huge contribution to Junior w/c sports - team selector, team mgr coach". In 2003, at the Wheelchair Sports WA Annual Awards, Ponta was named the Coach of the Year. He received the Western Australian Citizen of the Year Award in 2007. In 2011, he was one of the first people to be inducted into the Australian Paralympian Hall of Fame, along with Louise Sauvage and George Bedbrook. In 2012, he was inducted into the International Paralympian Hall of Fame at a ceremony in London. In 2017, he was inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame as an Athlete and General Member. ==References==