By Luke Voogt
Shaun Monger refuses to let cerebral palsy get in the way of his athletic dreams or giving back to a vital foundation in his life.
“Cerebral palsy is just natural to me, I was born with it, I have it and I just find ways to get along with it,” the 11-year-old said.
Shaun came second in the multi-class shot put at the state championships in September and represented Victoria at the Pacific School Games in Adelaide.
He competed as one of 12 athletes with disabilities in the team, coming fourth in the medley relay, fifth in the 800m and sixth in the shot put.
The condition affects the right side of his body, so he developed a powerful throw with his left arm
“It doesn’t really take much from my right hand, just the aiming,” he said.
Shaun is also training to walk 15km of the 40km Surf Coast Trek, after completing 8km in 2017.
“Last year it was a bit easy and I wanted to have a good challenge,” he said. “Maybe I’ll do 20km next year and 25km the year after that.”
Shaun’s quest was about giving back to Kids Plus Foundation, one of the event’s charities, which provided vital intensive therapy in his early years.
“What they’ve done over the years is amazing,” he said. “I wouldn’t be in the state I’m in if they didn’t help me.”
Shaun has had to overcome challenges already in his fledgling athletic career, like people saying he should stay home during school sport.
“It’s sort of taught me not to listen to them and that I could accomplish a lot – maybe not as much as they can – but a lot,” he said.
A teacher marked him harshly in grade 4, failing to take his disability into account, according to mother Kim Taylor.
“He burst into tears – it just broke his heart,” she said. “He really tries hard because he just wants to succeed.”
But Shaun bounced back, and multi-class sport “had opened up a world of opportunities for him” since, his proud mum said.
“There are so many more kids doing fantastic things like Shaun is now, rather than being demoralised.”
Shaun has some expert help on his side, with Geelong Paralympian Richard Colman coaching him over summer.
Richard was proud of the energetic Shaun and his 15km charity goal.
“(That distance) is hard for me at my age let alone at his,” he said.
“He knows it’s going to hurt but he’s willing to work for it. It’s going to be a big challenge but doable for him.”
Shaun was on his way to becoming one of Geelong’s next para-athletes
“He always works really hard in training which is what you want to see.”
But it could be difficult to persuade Shaun to give up his greatest passion – robotic engineering.
“I just like robots and coding,” he said.
