Heroes with Ability

Here's Marco Quintao's story

Marco graduated from Cecil Hills High School in 2016. Rugby League may be the toughest sport of all, but Marco demonstrates that there are not many more committed, loyal, or brave players than him when he puts on his Wests Tigers jersey and boots to play football for his Wests Tigers Physical Disability Rugby League team.

Marco also challenges himself week in and week out training alongside his peers, mentors and coaches, which includes NRL players and athletes but his favourite coach of all is his very own dad, who trains the Wests Tigers Physical Disability Rugby league team.

He also had the honour of representing Australia playing the sport he loves. Marco represented rugby league in the Emerging Nations World Cup - he is the leading goalkicker for his team and has almost achieved 100 games.

Marco is known in the community as “Mr Sporty Quintao", the little brother of the Wests Tigers team and an ambassador of inclusion for NRL and especially the Wests Tigers. Marco has had the honour of running out the first-grade men's team onto the field each week for over three years.

With COVID interrupting that passion of his, and now with his extra busy schedule, Marco also runs out the Wests Tigers girls team and the boys' teams onto the field randomly, whilst also volunteering and giving back to the community at Heroes with Ability.

Another thing he loves, is helping and giving back to the community and he fulfills this passion by volunteering his time at Heroes With Ability (a charity run by his family ).

It’s a program that was formed to inspire, teach and motivate people of all varying abilities to participate in sport no matter their abilities. Marco is an important role model to all the participants in the program as he represents that any person, despite their abilities, can dream, participate and achieve in sports no matter their abilities. Marco is seen as an inspiration. He helps participants and community members understand that if you commit and strive to achieve the best version of yourself and focus on your overall health and wellbeing, you can achieve your dreams.

Heroes with Ability focuses on the inclusion and the overall health and wellbeing of people with varying abilities. Heroes with Ability coaches school students and post-school adults sports programs, providing them with the confidence to represent their school and their colours in various gala days across the year. Heroes with Ability is a community program that connects together all sport/NRL teams/ people with varying abilities. At present, Heroes with Ability ambassadors vary from many different NRL teams, including Nathan Cleary, Ivan Cleary, Ryan Matterson, Billy Walters, Sean Keppie, Aaron Woods. It's about overall sportsmanship and opening up pathways and inclusion of all people within the community.

Marco now has the honour of volunteering his time to attend the Cecil Hills High School program day as it's one of the schools that Heroes with Ability coaches at and delivers the program to the students in the Support Unit, where Marco was once a student! He enjoys going back to Cecil Hills High School weekly and bumping into the familiar faces of staff members! Marco finds great joy and happiness in assisting the students that attend Cecil Hills High School.

In his downtime, Marco loves socialising, watching sports, listening to music, playing sports and staying active in training at the gym.

He has certainly achieved his dreams after leaving school! Marco continues to want to reach for the stars and continue to inspire so many people and to set the example that “People with special needs and varying abilities also have so much ABILITY and if you focus on your dreams – dreams do come true!”