Goalball levels playing field for vision impaired

Maitland Christian High School student Brodie Smith had never played a sport before ­taking up goalball a few years ago, but she is already a rising star.

In July, her team topped a youth tournament against China’s two best squads, and in August the 17-year-old played in the Australian women’s team in the Locomotion tournament in Los Angeles. 

They reached the ­quarter-finals before going down to a single goal in the closing ­minutes of overtime. 

Goalball, Smith says, is like a mix between dodgeball and soccer. 

Three players form each side and try to hurl the ball, along the ground, at their opponent’s goal to score. 

The defending team must throw themselves into the path of the ball 

to prevent it hitting its ­target.

The head-turning ­element of goalball is that all the players are blindfolded. 

The ball contains bells that give away its ­position. 

The idea is to level the playing field for ­players with varying degrees of vision loss, total blindness or perfect vision. 

Smith has retinitis ­pigmentosa, a genetic condition that causes a loss of peripheral vision. 

“It changes how you communicate with the blindfolds on,” Smith said.

“You have to talk more to find out where your teammates are or where the ball is.

“The first time you play it’s disorienting. It took me months to get used to it, but now it’s second nature.”

Smith said she had expected a bronze in China, but strong teamwork won the day against a formidable opponent.

“One of the teams was equal to us and the other was better. I guess our strong team work helped us beat them.”

Smith said since taking up the sport she had set her sights on playing in the Australian women’s team at the 2020 Paralympics in Tokyo.

“I never thought I’d get this far, but my goal now is the Paralympics in 2020,” she said.

“I’m playing in the youth division, but at the Paralympics there’s only a woman’s team and they’re pretty strong. 

“But I think I can get there if I put in the hard work.”