My name is Brodie Smith and I'm a proud member of the Aussie Belles which is the Australian Women's Goalball team. I'm 24 years old and am currently working as a high school teacher at a local school. I suffer from a degenerative vision impairment called Retinitis Pigmentosa which significantly impairs your peripheral vision. As such, I am classified as legally blind and have found sport to be an amazing outlet and coping mechanism.

For those of you who don't know what goalball is, it is a sport created to help rehabilitate blind veterans after the Second World War. There's a ball with bells in it, everyone wears blackout eyeshades and​ the aim of the game is to throw the ball down the court and throw your body in front of the ball to stop it. I've included a video link on this page if you're keen to check it out more!

I've been playing the sport of goalball for almost 10 years now and I can honestly say that it has changed my life. It's given me a sense of community that I've never had before and it has helped me become the person I am today. I was fortunate enough to have earned a spot at Tokyo 2020 Paralmypics and am striving to qualify for Paris 2024. ​Having represented Australia previously, I am honoured to have once again been selected as a member of the Aussie Belles Women’s Goalball Team for the IBSA World Games (Birmingham) from 14 to 28 August 2023.

However, goalball is a sport with very little funding, so the cost of every camp and every tournament comes directly out of players' pockets. If you feel on your heart to assist in any way, so that we can go and do Australia proud, that would be hugely beneficial!​ As we are all aware, international travel is very expensive right now, and there is limited financial support available to help myself and my teammates get there.

I would use any money donated to directly assist with the airfares, accommodation, and competition fees we need to pay as part of this experience.