February 25, 2025 • 28 mins
Blind Sports WA (BSWA) is dedicated to fostering inclusion and building community connections, recently joining the "Act, Belong, Commit" initiative. In this episode, we speak with Julie Cavallo, Development Officer at BSWA, to explore the exciting events and wide range of sports you can get involved in.
BSWA Come and try day - March 22nd 2025.
https://www.blindsportswa.com.au
https://blindsportsaustralia.com.au
https://www.actbelongcommit.org.au
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
S1 (00:09):
Hi, I'm Simon.
S2 (00:10):
And I'm Abby, and you're listening to In Plain Sight,
a program where we talk to people making a positive
impact in the community and disability sector, shining a light
on those who might otherwise be hidden in plain sight.
S1 (00:24):
And it's our pleasure to bring these really fabulous stories
to you on a weekly basis here on Vision Australia Radio.
S2 (00:36):
Hello and welcome everyone to our show In Plain Sight.
My name is Abby Green and I'm here with Simon Chong. Hey, Simon,
how are you going?
S1 (00:44):
Hey, Abby. I'm going. Well. And. Hello, everyone out there.
S2 (00:47):
So today our topic that we're looking at is we're
going to be speaking to someone from Blind Sports WA.
But on the topic of sports, I thought I would
ask you, Simon, what are your experiences with sports?
S1 (01:02):
I've lived three different kinds of lives. one life before
I became vision impaired, and my ability at sport when
I was a young person in high school and so
forth was pretty poor. I did try my hand at
most sports, but I wasn't very good at any of
them really. One of my favorite sports when I was
a little young kid was little athletics, which did actually
(01:22):
transfer into sport at a higher level when I became
vision impaired because I spent several years in the West
Australian Blind Sports team, which I competed in three national
championships for the blind nearly a lifetime ago.
S2 (01:39):
Wow. What does what does little athletics?
S1 (01:42):
Little athletics is a junior version of track and field
held in your local suburban area. It's an Australian wide
competition and yeah, I competed for my local suburb on
a on a Saturday morning and we spent the day running,
jumping and throwing things. It was it was good fun,
which gave me a good grounding. And it's part of
(02:04):
what we talk about in the interview later on. Is
that a good grounding, not only in the sport, but
being a community member? Like every community sports group, you
need raise funds, you need to have raffles, you learn
about teamwork and you learn about the community in which
you live. So it was a good grounding for that.
(02:25):
These days, my involvement with sport is based around watching
and being vision impaired. I listen to a lot of
sport on the radio.
S2 (02:37):
Awesome.
S1 (02:37):
Like my spine. People can't live without a radio.
S2 (02:40):
I love the radio too. I have a bit of
experience with sport too. My dad used to coach my
soccer team when I when I was about nine. I
think we were called the Dolphins. I was absolutely terrible
because I used to just stand on the field and
talk to the other players, and the ball would go
flying past me, and I would just be too busy
(03:02):
chatting away. Because I love to talk, as I'm sure
you're aware.
S1 (03:07):
That's why you're doing this job.
S2 (03:08):
Yeah, exactly. Exactly. Um, when I was a bit older,
probably when I was, like 15, I got into floorball.
If anyone knows what that is.
S1 (03:17):
No, I've never heard of it.
S2 (03:18):
It's kind of like hockey, except the stick. It's plastic
and it's, like, flat on both sides. It's kind of
like soccer, but with, like, a hockey stick. Yeah, yeah,
it was a lot of fun. I was pretty good
at it. I think I could have gone on if
I stuck to it to maybe the national team.
S1 (03:36):
There's a national team?
S2 (03:37):
Yeah, yeah, there's a national floorball team. It's pretty cool. Unfortunately,
it didn't end up sticking to it. But, um, I
also love Wii Sport too. I feel like I'm pretty
good at that.
S1 (03:47):
Haha.
S2 (03:48):
Okay.
S1 (03:48):
Virtual sport.
S2 (03:50):
Yeah. Wii sport tennis. Have you ever played that?
S1 (03:52):
No.
S2 (03:53):
Oh, Simon, you're missing out.
S1 (03:55):
I am, but it's good to play sport and it's
good to participate in different things. And this week we're
focusing on sport. But whatever it is that you might
be interested in, it's like a theme of our program.
It's getting involved with things, be it sport, be it dancing,
be it singing or whatever it might be, become part
of your community. And if the community is revolves around
(04:19):
your disability, in this case, it's blindness and low vision,
then it helps you feel a sense of not only
commitment and community, but a sense of belonging and all
these sports that we'll talk about later in the interview.
That's what people get from these sports as well as
the physical benefit. It's the psychological mental health benefits as well.
(04:41):
And we've talked about that previously in other programs. Initiatives
like Act, belong, commit. It's so good to be part
of something and participate.
S2 (04:50):
Yeah. Exactly Simon. And today we're going to be speaking
with Julie Carvalho. Julie is the development officer with Blind
Sports WA. So Blind Sports spots. WA is part of
Blind Sports Australia, which is a national sporting organisation for
blind and vision impaired sports. Blind sports WA facilitates and
(05:12):
supports several sports in WA that have either been specifically
designed for the blind and vision impaired, or have been
modified so that these sports are accessible, and it's about
building confidence and a sense of freedom for blind and
vision impaired people. It creates a sense of belonging and
improves mental health. And it's there's almost any sport you
(05:32):
can think of, including sailing and hockey. So very, very
cool initiative.
S1 (05:37):
And as I just mentioned, it's a space where people
can participate on an equal level and feel included and
have no barriers. And if we're thinking about rough and
tumble sports like soccer and Aussie Rules AFL, it's also
a space where people can feel safe, where they might
(05:58):
not be able to in their school environment or their
uni unique environment where they are in an integrated space.
So it's a really great initiative. A lot of these
things that these kinds of organizations have got going on.
S2 (06:10):
Yeah. Yeah, exactly. And without further ado, we'll hear from
Julie now.
S1 (06:21):
Hi, Julie.
S3 (06:22):
Hi, Simon. How are you?
S1 (06:24):
I'm great. Thanks. It's good to be here. And it's
good to see you today. Thanks for joining us.
S3 (06:29):
And thank you for having me.
S1 (06:30):
Now we'll start by firstly, just a brief introduction of
what blind spots West Australia is. We've talked to Ben
Rowe in the past. So we have a little bit
of an idea. But just give us a general short
pitch on what blind spots West Australia is and some
of the things that they do.
S3 (06:46):
Sure. So blind spots WA is set up to facilitate
blind and vision impaired people to play sport and get
involved in recreation, and we facilitate it. We run some
programs ourselves, and we basically are on a mission to
encourage as many people as we can to get out
of their armchair and come and play some sport with us,
(07:09):
and we're passionate about finding a sport that suits somebody,
because we do believe there's a sport out there for everyone.
And we're also passionate about creating new opportunities and developing sports.
And so if there's a sport that you want to play,
come and tell us about it and we'll do our
best to make it happen for you.
S1 (07:27):
That's excellent. And one of the running themes we have
on this program is advocacy in different forms. Now, what
I like about yourself and blind sports, Western Australia in particular,
is that in fact they are an advocacy organisation. You
are advocating for people who are blind and vision impaired
to be part of the community in realms of sport.
Now looking at the website yesterday, I noticed there were
(07:50):
a lot of mainstream so-called mainstream sports that are adaptive
for blind and vision impaired people like Australian rules football, AFL, soccer,
tennis and other things. But they're also specialised sports like
goalball and swish. There's a two pronged things that blind
Sports Western Australia do. You're an umbrella organisation that looks
(08:12):
after major sporting groups, and you also look into community
participation for just recreation as well. Can you tell us
a little bit about that?
S3 (08:20):
Yeah, absolutely. We we do see sport as a bit
of a vehicle. It's not the be all and end all.
Often sport leads to social gatherings. A lot of our sports,
there's quite a big social aspect to it. And I
think being part of a team and being with a
bunch of people that really get you, you know, I've
(08:42):
heard people make comments like, I've really found my tribe here,
I feel I belong. This is giving me, you know,
something to get out of the house for. And it
just becomes a meaningful interaction. And we all know the
benefits of sport. You know, I could bang on about
that for ages. About health benefits, you know, physical, mental health,
all of that. But when push comes to shove, I
(09:04):
think getting involved in something, um, blind spots recently became
part of the act Belong commit program because we just
feel it aligns perfectly with our values. And those those
three words act, belong, commit. It's what we're about as well.
So we want people to kind of give it a go.
I know you might not have tried something before, but
(09:25):
you just never know. We'll talk about it in a
little while, but we've got some opportunities coming up for
just that, that if you've ever thought about trying out something,
we're going to be providing a day where you will
get to do just that.
S1 (09:38):
I want to just pick up on that point about
the Act, Belong and commit. We did a program on
that some time ago when we were talking about the
all abilities power of dance, because that was part of
their program as well, just to be participate. And it's
the mental health benefits just being part of something. And
like you say, the belonging.
S3 (09:57):
Yeah, absolutely. I think it kind of becomes a little
bit of an extended family for people. And I've just
seen the benefits and the improvement in people's lives from
from actually being part of something. I've seen people come
from quite a depressed state sitting at home, not much
to look forward to, to really transforming their lives by.
They've got something, you know, weekly to go to and
(10:19):
they've got something to look forward to. They've got people
who greet them enthusiastically, hug them, you know, and they
they go home feeling like their cup's been filled. Yep.
And it's such an it's a beautiful thing. I think
more and more people should give it a go.
S1 (10:35):
Definitely. Now I know blind spots West Australia are not
managed but oversee some of the elite sports sort of
linked to what we see on the Paralympics and so forth.
But there's a lot of community sports as well. Can
you give us sort of some of the examples quickly
about some of the more of the elite stuff and
some of the more community based stuff that you might
do at Blind Sports West Australia?
S3 (10:56):
Yeah, of course. Um, well, blind sports doesn't actually run
a lot of the sports. They're run by individual organizations.
And we do have some programs that we do run.
We have organizations like goalball WA. They're amazing. They have
a pathway directly through to the Paralympics and to, you know,
international games. So you can go and join gold goalball
(11:19):
WA and you can just play for fun if you
want to. It's quite a social, active community, but if
you're interested in pursuing a pathway that's there for you
as well, um, there's also cricket. So the Venetians Cricket
club here in Western Australia, they're an amazing club. They're
now housed out of Applecross Cricket club and that's an
(11:40):
amazing partnership. Applecross Cricket club have now kind of adopted
the Venetians as one of their own. It comes under
the same banner as the Applecross Cricket club, but there's
also a pathway there. So recently I just last month
the WA W.A. blind Cricket club actually played in the
National Cricket Inclusion Championships over in Brisbane. Yep. And so
(12:03):
they sent like 14 players across to Brisbane to represent WA.
They pulled on the black and gold. Played hard for WA.
Didn't quite get the results they wanted but had an
amazing time. And there's a bond that's formed amongst those players.
You know when you travel together, you live together for
a week. There's definitely lots of laughs, lots of fun
(12:25):
and still getting to play on, you know, on on
a competitive level.
S1 (12:29):
Now that leads you nicely to talk about yourself a
little bit. Julie, I know you're a bit reluctant to
talk about your own personal story, but your vision impaired
yourself with retinitis pigmentosa, and you actually participated yourself at
blind Cricket Carnival in Brisbane. You were just mentioning. I did.
S3 (12:48):
Yeah. So this is the second year that I've been
selected to play in the WA team, which is a
huge honour and a privilege, but also the women in
Australia are so blind and vision impaired women are also
taking to cricket in droves. There's been a big push
to to get a women's comp going, and last year
there was one exhibition match that was played and this
(13:10):
year it's extended to. It was a whole week of
cricket for the women. I played in one of the games,
one was washed out, but the other games I played
in my mixed team. But this women's competition is something amazing.
They're going to be having a women's training camp coming up,
and a bunch of us have been selected, and from
(13:33):
that group, they will select the Australian Women's Blind cricket
team at the end of April, they'll be playing against Pakistan.
And there's an opportunity there to represent Australia, which for
most people I think would be a dream come true.
S1 (13:47):
Yes, indeed.
S3 (13:48):
So you're right, Simon, I'm going all shy here. I
really don't like talking about myself. Good on you, Julie.
I got selected to go and participate in this training camp.
So basically I'm up for selection for the Australian team
and I'm still pinching myself. I still can't believe that
this is happening.
S1 (14:06):
And I think a lot of credit must go to
Blind Sports, West Australia and the blind cricket team here
in Perth, Western Australia, because we've always struggled with numbers
in Perth, because we have a small population in general.
And to get that those participation levels up. But it's
really great that West Australia has got that representation now.
S3 (14:25):
Yeah, it is great. And there's more and more people
joining and we always welcome new players. Whether you've never
touched a cricket bat or ball in your life, it
doesn't matter. We have an amazing coach, Vince Stackpole. He's brilliant.
He's a very kind, generous and patient coach with a
lovely coaching style. He makes everyone feel welcome in our
(14:45):
club and he's he has developed some really cool ways
of of training us so that he can get the
best out of us. and the thing he encourages the
most for all of us is that we we play
with good sportsmanship, so we encourage each other in the field.
We always got each other's back. And it doesn't matter
(15:06):
if you think you might have, you know, done something wrong.
You've missed a ball that's flying past you. It doesn't matter.
We just pat each other on the back and you'll
get the next one kind of attitude towards it.
S2 (15:18):
You're currently listening to In Plain Sight on Vision Australia
Radio with Simon and Abby. This week we are speaking
to Julie Carvalho, Development Officer with Blind Sports WA.
S1 (15:35):
Cricket is at the elite level aligned with Cricket Australia
and do they have the same similar association here in
Western Australia with the Waca?
S3 (15:42):
Yes we do. Which, if I may, it leads me
on to something else to talk about. So we're about
to launch our term one program for Let's Get Visible.
So Also, if you weren't already aware, it's a Let's
Get Visible is a program for school aged children who
are blind and vision impaired. We cater for ages 5
to 15. We run across three centres across Perth, so
(16:05):
we're in Mandurah, Cockburn and Joondalup and for the last
nearly running for two years thanks to the generous help
of telethon, we've now got a bunch of kids who
are actually ready to start playing a little more formalized sport.
So for the last two years they've been gaining so
much ability in their skills, their balance, their strength, and
(16:26):
we've been playing lots of games that involve like throwing, striking, kicking.
So they're ready to really embrace the sport. So with
the help of Waca and the support of Waca, we're
we're introducing a modified version of the Star Blast program.
S1 (16:41):
What is Star.
S3 (16:42):
Blast? So Star Blast is something it's set up. I
think Woolworths are behind it, but it's a program for
young children. It's like a grassroots level to get kids
involved in cricket, and it's done in a fun, gamified
way and a bit similar to what we do with
our with our Let's Get Visible program. But the Weka
have come on board with us. They have got a
couple of specialist coaches, which will be amazing. They're going
(17:06):
to come along to the sessions and help our kids
get into cricket, and I think our kids are just
going to love it.
S1 (17:12):
I'm really impressed with Blind Sports West Australia. Now that
you have those kinds of community based programs, what's the
after school program that you have running as well? What's that.
S3 (17:20):
One? That's our let's get visible. Visible. Let's get visible. Yeah.
Catchy title. It's a it's a play on the let's
get physical, which is a lot of fun.
S1 (17:28):
What are the community based programs the Blind sports Western
Australia have?
S3 (17:32):
We're pushing into the south west of WA. So that's
with the help of the DXC. It's Department of Local Government,
Sports and Community. It's allowed us to start to take
some sports and recreation down into the South West. So
obviously the south west is growing. The population down there
(17:52):
has kind of exploded in the last few years, especially post-pandemic.
A lot of people seem to have moved out of
the city wanting kind of more of a country lifestyle.
But as a result of that, there is basically no
sports down there or there was no sports down there.
So this grant has allowed us to spend time and
get involved in local clubs down there. So we do
(18:14):
now have a tennis program that runs down south that
runs out of Busselton. So the Busselton Tennis Club have
a coach and have a weekly session and that's now
available for people to join. There's also golf has started,
so the Bunbury Golf Club at the end of last
year were very keen to get blind golf happening in
their golf club. So we're working with them to get
(18:36):
that established and we'll be working this year to provide
more come and try days because we just find a
come and try day is really easy for people. They
can turn up, they can try a few different sports.
There's no pressure on them. So if you try a sport,
it's not really for you. You can just move to
the next station and try something else. So it's kind
of non-threatening. Whereas when you turn up to try a
(18:58):
specific sport and you really decide you don't like it,
it could be awkward.
S1 (19:02):
So the whole day and nothing.
S3 (19:04):
Much to you? Kind of. We recognize that that could
be an issue for people. So we just think a
non-threatening environment. It's fun, it's friendly, just come and have
a go. And then we can provide details of how
to get involved. We're also mindful that for some people,
transport can be such a big barrier to coming to
sports as well. So this 12 months we're really working
(19:26):
at whatever we're providing. We're also going to provide some
support in regards to getting people to these events if
they're struggling to get there.
S1 (19:35):
Great, great. You also have tennis program here in metropolitan Perth.
S3 (19:39):
We do. Last year it was running at the Belmont
Tennis Club. It's run by Tennis West and the tennis
Pro with their coaching staff, and it was running on
Tuesday night, so I haven't yet got the details for that,
but I'm sure that will be starting up again soon.
The other program that's starting up soon, it's on the
30th of March is soccer. So the 30th of March
(20:01):
out of Perth Soccer Club because they're the host for
the blind soccer team and they're doing a brilliant job.
So the 30th of March will be open of the season.
We'll have all the event details on our website soon.
S1 (20:14):
So just you mentioned the website. Give us the details
of your website. Sure.
S3 (20:18):
It's blind Sportswatch. Com.au and on that on our home
page we just have a we have a bunch of
the current things that are happening. But if you look
through the menu, you'll also find events. And on the
events page we list everything. The other way of getting
involved and finding out what we're doing is through Facebook.
(20:38):
You can follow us on Facebook. It's just Blind Sports
WA and we post all of our events up there.
There's also a WhatsApp community group for Blind sports WA,
and you can ask to be made a member of
that group. And basically it's a live feed. Through all
the sports, you can join different channels for the different
(20:59):
sports and get the information firsthand. And you know, it's
a really handy way to keep in touch with what's
going on around Perth and the South West for sports.
S1 (21:09):
Now, Julie, how long have you been in your particular
role here at Blind Sports Australia?
S3 (21:14):
I'm coming up for two years, two years, and it's
been a roller coaster ride in a good way, and
I've just been loving every minute of it. I've said
this so many times, if I could put a dream
job description together, this job would tick all the boxes.
S1 (21:28):
I love the way most of the people that I've
met through Blind Sports Western Australia, they're so keen on
it and so passionate, and they're actually not only doing
their particular role like in your case, development role, but
you're also usually participating in some of the sports as well.
So what? Tell us about some of the other sports
that you participate in yourself. Julie. It's true.
S3 (21:46):
Simon. Um, if you ask my partner, he would say
that I participate in too many sports, but that's another conversation. Um,
so so yes, I do, I, I do like to
give everything a go. So I play golf at Lake
Claremont Golf Course as part of the Westerners Blind Golf Club.
Tennis is another game I've been playing on a regular basis,
(22:09):
and I entered a comp last year and proud to
say I've got medals. Who would have thought that? Wow.
S1 (22:15):
So I'm Vision Australia radio. We were, um, participating in
helping to broadcast the Australian Open that was recently played
in Melbourne in January, and they have an all inclusive
aspect to that as well. The other wonderful thing I
love about blind sports, especially here in Western Australia, is
that it is all inclusive and it's inclusive to young people,
(22:38):
older people, men and women equally across the board, and
that's a great leveller. And that's one of the great
things about blind sports and any community event that involves,
particularly in this case, blind people and vision impaired people,
people with low vision, because there is that common element
that we can all associate with.
S3 (22:57):
Yeah, I absolutely agree. So we have participants playing blind
sport everywhere from kind of like I said, the 5
to 15 year olds for our Let's Get Visible program.
I think we've got a new we've got a newbie
this year and I think our newbie could be five
years old. So we're very excited. And we have a
really lovely, wonderful lady who I play golf with. And
(23:21):
she's 94. I think she turns 95 this year. Wow.
S2 (23:25):
That's impressive.
S3 (23:26):
That's hugely impressive. She's amazing and she's kind of someone
I look up to because I hope I'm still playing
golf at that age. And yeah, I just love her
to bits. Um, so if you're listening, Beryl, I love you.
S1 (23:41):
Well done. Beryl. Shout out to.
S3 (23:44):
Beryl. Shout out to Beryl. And, um, we have this
great guy coming along to a lot of our sports
called Curtis, and Curtis is recently lost his sight, and
he's just dove headfirst into so many of our sports.
And he also plays golf. And he was getting very frustrated.
And I said to him, Curtis, did you play golf
(24:05):
before you lost your sight? He went, no, no, not
not really. And I said, so are you expecting to
be so good at it now?
S1 (24:13):
Not exactly.
S3 (24:15):
But he's he has a term where he said he's
just treating life. He's going through life. And if something
gets tough, he's just going to barrel it. I'm going
to barrel it.
S1 (24:25):
Oh very good.
S3 (24:26):
I kind of like that term.
S1 (24:27):
And definitely now we've quickly run out of time. Julia,
it's been a delight to talk to you. Is there
anything you'd like to finish on before we have to
wind up this conversation?
S3 (24:37):
I will quickly just mention that on the 22nd of
March that we're looking to have our come and try day,
the one I was speaking about earlier that has a
multiple sports. We're hoping to get as many of our
sports involved as we can. So so far we'll have soccer, cricket, tennis, goalball,
and we're hoping to have more sports, but we've got
(24:59):
potentially a new one for everyone, which a lot of
people may not have tried. And a lot of people
are going to go, oh, how does that work? We
potentially have archery.
S1 (25:08):
Yes, I've tried archery. We tried.
S3 (25:10):
Archery.
S2 (25:11):
Interesting.
S3 (25:12):
Yeah. Very interesting. So we'll be working with archery WA
and they're looking at providing a come and try experience.
S1 (25:19):
Is that where the beeping target board.
S3 (25:21):
Well to be honest Simon I haven't tried it myself yet.
It could be another sport that I'm adding to my
long list. Yep. Um, but I'm excited for it. I'm
excited to see how it works. And we're working with
a lovely lady from archery WA called Jade, and she's
assured us it's one of the safest sports that we
can play. So for anyone who has concerns, it is
(25:43):
one of the safest Sports that we can play. So
we can't we can't wait to show people that.
S1 (25:49):
So where's that coming Friday.
S3 (25:50):
So that'll be at Coburn. It's Jandakot Hall. Okay.
S1 (25:54):
And tell us again how how would people find out
about that particular event.
S3 (25:58):
We will be posting it all over Facebook. It'll be
on our website on our events page. And also like
I said, if you're a member of the WhatsApp community,
it'll be posted all over there as well.
S1 (26:10):
That's excellent. Now, I'd really like to thank you for
joining us. We have to finish our conversation now. Julie,
such a passionate conversation and I really was enthused and
enjoyed our conversation. And it's great that you could come
in and be part of our program today. Thanks for
coming in. Me too.
S3 (26:26):
Simon, thank you so much for inviting me in and
hopefully I'll see people out in the court, the field,
the course very soon.
S2 (26:36):
Thanks so much for listening. You're on Vision Australia Radio
and this is In Plain Sight with Simon and Abby.
Really hope you enjoyed that interview. And just to recap
Blind Sports, we are having a come and try day
on the 22nd of March at Jandakot Hall, so please,
if you're interested, get involved. You can look up their
(26:57):
website as well or their Facebook page for any more
information on local events. So their website was WW Dot
Blind Sports Iacomo and we'll include those links in the
podcast description as well. And just a reminder that you
can listen to us live on Vision Australia radio.org, and
(27:17):
you can listen any time on any of the major
streaming platform services. Just search up in plain sight. Thank
you so much and we'll see you next week. Bye
for now.
Hi, I'm Simon.
S2 (00:10):
And I'm Abby, and you're listening to In Plain Sight,
a program where we talk to people making a positive
impact in the community and disability sector, shining a light
on those who might otherwise be hidden in plain sight.
S1 (00:24):
And it's our pleasure to bring these really fabulous stories
to you on a weekly basis here on Vision Australia Radio.
S2 (00:36):
Hello and welcome everyone to our show In Plain Sight.
My name is Abby Green and I'm here with Simon Chong. Hey, Simon,
how are you going?
S1 (00:44):
Hey, Abby. I'm going. Well. And. Hello, everyone out there.
S2 (00:47):
So today our topic that we're looking at is we're
going to be speaking to someone from Blind Sports WA.
But on the topic of sports, I thought I would
ask you, Simon, what are your experiences with sports?
S1 (01:02):
I've lived three different kinds of lives. one life before
I became vision impaired, and my ability at sport when
I was a young person in high school and so
forth was pretty poor. I did try my hand at
most sports, but I wasn't very good at any of
them really. One of my favorite sports when I was
a little young kid was little athletics, which did actually
(01:22):
transfer into sport at a higher level when I became
vision impaired because I spent several years in the West
Australian Blind Sports team, which I competed in three national
championships for the blind nearly a lifetime ago.
S2 (01:39):
Wow. What does what does little athletics?
S1 (01:42):
Little athletics is a junior version of track and field
held in your local suburban area. It's an Australian wide
competition and yeah, I competed for my local suburb on
a on a Saturday morning and we spent the day running,
jumping and throwing things. It was it was good fun,
which gave me a good grounding. And it's part of
(02:04):
what we talk about in the interview later on. Is
that a good grounding, not only in the sport, but
being a community member? Like every community sports group, you
need raise funds, you need to have raffles, you learn
about teamwork and you learn about the community in which
you live. So it was a good grounding for that.
(02:25):
These days, my involvement with sport is based around watching
and being vision impaired. I listen to a lot of
sport on the radio.
S2 (02:37):
Awesome.
S1 (02:37):
Like my spine. People can't live without a radio.
S2 (02:40):
I love the radio too. I have a bit of
experience with sport too. My dad used to coach my
soccer team when I when I was about nine. I
think we were called the Dolphins. I was absolutely terrible
because I used to just stand on the field and
talk to the other players, and the ball would go
flying past me, and I would just be too busy
(03:02):
chatting away. Because I love to talk, as I'm sure
you're aware.
S1 (03:07):
That's why you're doing this job.
S2 (03:08):
Yeah, exactly. Exactly. Um, when I was a bit older,
probably when I was, like 15, I got into floorball.
If anyone knows what that is.
S1 (03:17):
No, I've never heard of it.
S2 (03:18):
It's kind of like hockey, except the stick. It's plastic
and it's, like, flat on both sides. It's kind of
like soccer, but with, like, a hockey stick. Yeah, yeah,
it was a lot of fun. I was pretty good
at it. I think I could have gone on if
I stuck to it to maybe the national team.
S1 (03:36):
There's a national team?
S2 (03:37):
Yeah, yeah, there's a national floorball team. It's pretty cool. Unfortunately,
it didn't end up sticking to it. But, um, I
also love Wii Sport too. I feel like I'm pretty
good at that.
S1 (03:47):
Haha.
S2 (03:48):
Okay.
S1 (03:48):
Virtual sport.
S2 (03:50):
Yeah. Wii sport tennis. Have you ever played that?
S1 (03:52):
No.
S2 (03:53):
Oh, Simon, you're missing out.
S1 (03:55):
I am, but it's good to play sport and it's
good to participate in different things. And this week we're
focusing on sport. But whatever it is that you might
be interested in, it's like a theme of our program.
It's getting involved with things, be it sport, be it dancing,
be it singing or whatever it might be, become part
of your community. And if the community is revolves around
(04:19):
your disability, in this case, it's blindness and low vision,
then it helps you feel a sense of not only
commitment and community, but a sense of belonging and all
these sports that we'll talk about later in the interview.
That's what people get from these sports as well as
the physical benefit. It's the psychological mental health benefits as well.
(04:41):
And we've talked about that previously in other programs. Initiatives
like Act, belong, commit. It's so good to be part
of something and participate.
S2 (04:50):
Yeah. Exactly Simon. And today we're going to be speaking
with Julie Carvalho. Julie is the development officer with Blind
Sports WA. So Blind Sports spots. WA is part of
Blind Sports Australia, which is a national sporting organisation for
blind and vision impaired sports. Blind sports WA facilitates and
(05:12):
supports several sports in WA that have either been specifically
designed for the blind and vision impaired, or have been
modified so that these sports are accessible, and it's about
building confidence and a sense of freedom for blind and
vision impaired people. It creates a sense of belonging and
improves mental health. And it's there's almost any sport you
(05:32):
can think of, including sailing and hockey. So very, very
cool initiative.
S1 (05:37):
And as I just mentioned, it's a space where people
can participate on an equal level and feel included and
have no barriers. And if we're thinking about rough and
tumble sports like soccer and Aussie Rules AFL, it's also
a space where people can feel safe, where they might
(05:58):
not be able to in their school environment or their
uni unique environment where they are in an integrated space.
So it's a really great initiative. A lot of these
things that these kinds of organizations have got going on.
S2 (06:10):
Yeah. Yeah, exactly. And without further ado, we'll hear from
Julie now.
S1 (06:21):
Hi, Julie.
S3 (06:22):
Hi, Simon. How are you?
S1 (06:24):
I'm great. Thanks. It's good to be here. And it's
good to see you today. Thanks for joining us.
S3 (06:29):
And thank you for having me.
S1 (06:30):
Now we'll start by firstly, just a brief introduction of
what blind spots West Australia is. We've talked to Ben
Rowe in the past. So we have a little bit
of an idea. But just give us a general short
pitch on what blind spots West Australia is and some
of the things that they do.
S3 (06:46):
Sure. So blind spots WA is set up to facilitate
blind and vision impaired people to play sport and get
involved in recreation, and we facilitate it. We run some
programs ourselves, and we basically are on a mission to
encourage as many people as we can to get out
of their armchair and come and play some sport with us,
(07:09):
and we're passionate about finding a sport that suits somebody,
because we do believe there's a sport out there for everyone.
And we're also passionate about creating new opportunities and developing sports.
And so if there's a sport that you want to play,
come and tell us about it and we'll do our
best to make it happen for you.
S1 (07:27):
That's excellent. And one of the running themes we have
on this program is advocacy in different forms. Now, what
I like about yourself and blind sports, Western Australia in particular,
is that in fact they are an advocacy organisation. You
are advocating for people who are blind and vision impaired
to be part of the community in realms of sport.
Now looking at the website yesterday, I noticed there were
(07:50):
a lot of mainstream so-called mainstream sports that are adaptive
for blind and vision impaired people like Australian rules football, AFL, soccer,
tennis and other things. But they're also specialised sports like
goalball and swish. There's a two pronged things that blind
Sports Western Australia do. You're an umbrella organisation that looks
(08:12):
after major sporting groups, and you also look into community
participation for just recreation as well. Can you tell us
a little bit about that?
S3 (08:20):
Yeah, absolutely. We we do see sport as a bit
of a vehicle. It's not the be all and end all.
Often sport leads to social gatherings. A lot of our sports,
there's quite a big social aspect to it. And I
think being part of a team and being with a
bunch of people that really get you, you know, I've
(08:42):
heard people make comments like, I've really found my tribe here,
I feel I belong. This is giving me, you know,
something to get out of the house for. And it
just becomes a meaningful interaction. And we all know the
benefits of sport. You know, I could bang on about
that for ages. About health benefits, you know, physical, mental health,
all of that. But when push comes to shove, I
(09:04):
think getting involved in something, um, blind spots recently became
part of the act Belong commit program because we just
feel it aligns perfectly with our values. And those those
three words act, belong, commit. It's what we're about as well.
So we want people to kind of give it a go.
I know you might not have tried something before, but
(09:25):
you just never know. We'll talk about it in a
little while, but we've got some opportunities coming up for
just that, that if you've ever thought about trying out something,
we're going to be providing a day where you will
get to do just that.
S1 (09:38):
I want to just pick up on that point about
the Act, Belong and commit. We did a program on
that some time ago when we were talking about the
all abilities power of dance, because that was part of
their program as well, just to be participate. And it's
the mental health benefits just being part of something. And
like you say, the belonging.
S3 (09:57):
Yeah, absolutely. I think it kind of becomes a little
bit of an extended family for people. And I've just
seen the benefits and the improvement in people's lives from
from actually being part of something. I've seen people come
from quite a depressed state sitting at home, not much
to look forward to, to really transforming their lives by.
They've got something, you know, weekly to go to and
(10:19):
they've got something to look forward to. They've got people
who greet them enthusiastically, hug them, you know, and they
they go home feeling like their cup's been filled. Yep.
And it's such an it's a beautiful thing. I think
more and more people should give it a go.
S1 (10:35):
Definitely. Now I know blind spots West Australia are not
managed but oversee some of the elite sports sort of
linked to what we see on the Paralympics and so forth.
But there's a lot of community sports as well. Can
you give us sort of some of the examples quickly
about some of the more of the elite stuff and
some of the more community based stuff that you might
do at Blind Sports West Australia?
S3 (10:56):
Yeah, of course. Um, well, blind sports doesn't actually run
a lot of the sports. They're run by individual organizations.
And we do have some programs that we do run.
We have organizations like goalball WA. They're amazing. They have
a pathway directly through to the Paralympics and to, you know,
international games. So you can go and join gold goalball
(11:19):
WA and you can just play for fun if you
want to. It's quite a social, active community, but if
you're interested in pursuing a pathway that's there for you
as well, um, there's also cricket. So the Venetians Cricket
club here in Western Australia, they're an amazing club. They're
now housed out of Applecross Cricket club and that's an
(11:40):
amazing partnership. Applecross Cricket club have now kind of adopted
the Venetians as one of their own. It comes under
the same banner as the Applecross Cricket club, but there's
also a pathway there. So recently I just last month
the WA W.A. blind Cricket club actually played in the
National Cricket Inclusion Championships over in Brisbane. Yep. And so
(12:03):
they sent like 14 players across to Brisbane to represent WA.
They pulled on the black and gold. Played hard for WA.
Didn't quite get the results they wanted but had an
amazing time. And there's a bond that's formed amongst those players.
You know when you travel together, you live together for
a week. There's definitely lots of laughs, lots of fun
(12:25):
and still getting to play on, you know, on on
a competitive level.
S1 (12:29):
Now that leads you nicely to talk about yourself a
little bit. Julie, I know you're a bit reluctant to
talk about your own personal story, but your vision impaired
yourself with retinitis pigmentosa, and you actually participated yourself at
blind Cricket Carnival in Brisbane. You were just mentioning. I did.
S3 (12:48):
Yeah. So this is the second year that I've been
selected to play in the WA team, which is a
huge honour and a privilege, but also the women in
Australia are so blind and vision impaired women are also
taking to cricket in droves. There's been a big push
to to get a women's comp going, and last year
there was one exhibition match that was played and this
(13:10):
year it's extended to. It was a whole week of
cricket for the women. I played in one of the games,
one was washed out, but the other games I played
in my mixed team. But this women's competition is something amazing.
They're going to be having a women's training camp coming up,
and a bunch of us have been selected, and from
(13:33):
that group, they will select the Australian Women's Blind cricket
team at the end of April, they'll be playing against Pakistan.
And there's an opportunity there to represent Australia, which for
most people I think would be a dream come true.
S1 (13:47):
Yes, indeed.
S3 (13:48):
So you're right, Simon, I'm going all shy here. I
really don't like talking about myself. Good on you, Julie.
I got selected to go and participate in this training camp.
So basically I'm up for selection for the Australian team
and I'm still pinching myself. I still can't believe that
this is happening.
S1 (14:06):
And I think a lot of credit must go to
Blind Sports, West Australia and the blind cricket team here
in Perth, Western Australia, because we've always struggled with numbers
in Perth, because we have a small population in general.
And to get that those participation levels up. But it's
really great that West Australia has got that representation now.
S3 (14:25):
Yeah, it is great. And there's more and more people
joining and we always welcome new players. Whether you've never
touched a cricket bat or ball in your life, it
doesn't matter. We have an amazing coach, Vince Stackpole. He's brilliant.
He's a very kind, generous and patient coach with a
lovely coaching style. He makes everyone feel welcome in our
(14:45):
club and he's he has developed some really cool ways
of of training us so that he can get the
best out of us. and the thing he encourages the
most for all of us is that we we play
with good sportsmanship, so we encourage each other in the field.
We always got each other's back. And it doesn't matter
(15:06):
if you think you might have, you know, done something wrong.
You've missed a ball that's flying past you. It doesn't matter.
We just pat each other on the back and you'll
get the next one kind of attitude towards it.
S2 (15:18):
You're currently listening to In Plain Sight on Vision Australia
Radio with Simon and Abby. This week we are speaking
to Julie Carvalho, Development Officer with Blind Sports WA.
S1 (15:35):
Cricket is at the elite level aligned with Cricket Australia
and do they have the same similar association here in
Western Australia with the Waca?
S3 (15:42):
Yes we do. Which, if I may, it leads me
on to something else to talk about. So we're about
to launch our term one program for Let's Get Visible.
So Also, if you weren't already aware, it's a Let's
Get Visible is a program for school aged children who
are blind and vision impaired. We cater for ages 5
to 15. We run across three centres across Perth, so
(16:05):
we're in Mandurah, Cockburn and Joondalup and for the last
nearly running for two years thanks to the generous help
of telethon, we've now got a bunch of kids who
are actually ready to start playing a little more formalized sport.
So for the last two years they've been gaining so
much ability in their skills, their balance, their strength, and
(16:26):
we've been playing lots of games that involve like throwing, striking, kicking.
So they're ready to really embrace the sport. So with
the help of Waca and the support of Waca, we're
we're introducing a modified version of the Star Blast program.
S1 (16:41):
What is Star.
S3 (16:42):
Blast? So Star Blast is something it's set up. I
think Woolworths are behind it, but it's a program for
young children. It's like a grassroots level to get kids
involved in cricket, and it's done in a fun, gamified
way and a bit similar to what we do with
our with our Let's Get Visible program. But the Weka
have come on board with us. They have got a
couple of specialist coaches, which will be amazing. They're going
(17:06):
to come along to the sessions and help our kids
get into cricket, and I think our kids are just
going to love it.
S1 (17:12):
I'm really impressed with Blind Sports West Australia. Now that
you have those kinds of community based programs, what's the
after school program that you have running as well? What's that.
S3 (17:20):
One? That's our let's get visible. Visible. Let's get visible. Yeah.
Catchy title. It's a it's a play on the let's
get physical, which is a lot of fun.
S1 (17:28):
What are the community based programs the Blind sports Western
Australia have?
S3 (17:32):
We're pushing into the south west of WA. So that's
with the help of the DXC. It's Department of Local Government,
Sports and Community. It's allowed us to start to take
some sports and recreation down into the South West. So
obviously the south west is growing. The population down there
(17:52):
has kind of exploded in the last few years, especially post-pandemic.
A lot of people seem to have moved out of
the city wanting kind of more of a country lifestyle.
But as a result of that, there is basically no
sports down there or there was no sports down there.
So this grant has allowed us to spend time and
get involved in local clubs down there. So we do
(18:14):
now have a tennis program that runs down south that
runs out of Busselton. So the Busselton Tennis Club have
a coach and have a weekly session and that's now
available for people to join. There's also golf has started,
so the Bunbury Golf Club at the end of last
year were very keen to get blind golf happening in
their golf club. So we're working with them to get
(18:36):
that established and we'll be working this year to provide
more come and try days because we just find a
come and try day is really easy for people. They
can turn up, they can try a few different sports.
There's no pressure on them. So if you try a sport,
it's not really for you. You can just move to
the next station and try something else. So it's kind
of non-threatening. Whereas when you turn up to try a
(18:58):
specific sport and you really decide you don't like it,
it could be awkward.
S1 (19:02):
So the whole day and nothing.
S3 (19:04):
Much to you? Kind of. We recognize that that could
be an issue for people. So we just think a
non-threatening environment. It's fun, it's friendly, just come and have
a go. And then we can provide details of how
to get involved. We're also mindful that for some people,
transport can be such a big barrier to coming to
sports as well. So this 12 months we're really working
(19:26):
at whatever we're providing. We're also going to provide some
support in regards to getting people to these events if
they're struggling to get there.
S1 (19:35):
Great, great. You also have tennis program here in metropolitan Perth.
S3 (19:39):
We do. Last year it was running at the Belmont
Tennis Club. It's run by Tennis West and the tennis
Pro with their coaching staff, and it was running on
Tuesday night, so I haven't yet got the details for that,
but I'm sure that will be starting up again soon.
The other program that's starting up soon, it's on the
30th of March is soccer. So the 30th of March
(20:01):
out of Perth Soccer Club because they're the host for
the blind soccer team and they're doing a brilliant job.
So the 30th of March will be open of the season.
We'll have all the event details on our website soon.
S1 (20:14):
So just you mentioned the website. Give us the details
of your website. Sure.
S3 (20:18):
It's blind Sportswatch. Com.au and on that on our home
page we just have a we have a bunch of
the current things that are happening. But if you look
through the menu, you'll also find events. And on the
events page we list everything. The other way of getting
involved and finding out what we're doing is through Facebook.
(20:38):
You can follow us on Facebook. It's just Blind Sports
WA and we post all of our events up there.
There's also a WhatsApp community group for Blind sports WA,
and you can ask to be made a member of
that group. And basically it's a live feed. Through all
the sports, you can join different channels for the different
(20:59):
sports and get the information firsthand. And you know, it's
a really handy way to keep in touch with what's
going on around Perth and the South West for sports.
S1 (21:09):
Now, Julie, how long have you been in your particular
role here at Blind Sports Australia?
S3 (21:14):
I'm coming up for two years, two years, and it's
been a roller coaster ride in a good way, and
I've just been loving every minute of it. I've said
this so many times, if I could put a dream
job description together, this job would tick all the boxes.
S1 (21:28):
I love the way most of the people that I've
met through Blind Sports Western Australia, they're so keen on
it and so passionate, and they're actually not only doing
their particular role like in your case, development role, but
you're also usually participating in some of the sports as well.
So what? Tell us about some of the other sports
that you participate in yourself. Julie. It's true.
S3 (21:46):
Simon. Um, if you ask my partner, he would say
that I participate in too many sports, but that's another conversation. Um,
so so yes, I do, I, I do like to
give everything a go. So I play golf at Lake
Claremont Golf Course as part of the Westerners Blind Golf Club.
Tennis is another game I've been playing on a regular basis,
(22:09):
and I entered a comp last year and proud to
say I've got medals. Who would have thought that? Wow.
S1 (22:15):
So I'm Vision Australia radio. We were, um, participating in
helping to broadcast the Australian Open that was recently played
in Melbourne in January, and they have an all inclusive
aspect to that as well. The other wonderful thing I
love about blind sports, especially here in Western Australia, is
that it is all inclusive and it's inclusive to young people,
(22:38):
older people, men and women equally across the board, and
that's a great leveller. And that's one of the great
things about blind sports and any community event that involves,
particularly in this case, blind people and vision impaired people,
people with low vision, because there is that common element
that we can all associate with.
S3 (22:57):
Yeah, I absolutely agree. So we have participants playing blind
sport everywhere from kind of like I said, the 5
to 15 year olds for our Let's Get Visible program.
I think we've got a new we've got a newbie
this year and I think our newbie could be five
years old. So we're very excited. And we have a
really lovely, wonderful lady who I play golf with. And
(23:21):
she's 94. I think she turns 95 this year. Wow.
S2 (23:25):
That's impressive.
S3 (23:26):
That's hugely impressive. She's amazing and she's kind of someone
I look up to because I hope I'm still playing
golf at that age. And yeah, I just love her
to bits. Um, so if you're listening, Beryl, I love you.
S1 (23:41):
Well done. Beryl. Shout out to.
S3 (23:44):
Beryl. Shout out to Beryl. And, um, we have this
great guy coming along to a lot of our sports
called Curtis, and Curtis is recently lost his sight, and
he's just dove headfirst into so many of our sports.
And he also plays golf. And he was getting very frustrated.
And I said to him, Curtis, did you play golf
(24:05):
before you lost your sight? He went, no, no, not
not really. And I said, so are you expecting to
be so good at it now?
S1 (24:13):
Not exactly.
S3 (24:15):
But he's he has a term where he said he's
just treating life. He's going through life. And if something
gets tough, he's just going to barrel it. I'm going
to barrel it.
S1 (24:25):
Oh very good.
S3 (24:26):
I kind of like that term.
S1 (24:27):
And definitely now we've quickly run out of time. Julia,
it's been a delight to talk to you. Is there
anything you'd like to finish on before we have to
wind up this conversation?
S3 (24:37):
I will quickly just mention that on the 22nd of
March that we're looking to have our come and try day,
the one I was speaking about earlier that has a
multiple sports. We're hoping to get as many of our
sports involved as we can. So so far we'll have soccer, cricket, tennis, goalball,
and we're hoping to have more sports, but we've got
(24:59):
potentially a new one for everyone, which a lot of
people may not have tried. And a lot of people
are going to go, oh, how does that work? We
potentially have archery.
S1 (25:08):
Yes, I've tried archery. We tried.
S3 (25:10):
Archery.
S2 (25:11):
Interesting.
S3 (25:12):
Yeah. Very interesting. So we'll be working with archery WA
and they're looking at providing a come and try experience.
S1 (25:19):
Is that where the beeping target board.
S3 (25:21):
Well to be honest Simon I haven't tried it myself yet.
It could be another sport that I'm adding to my
long list. Yep. Um, but I'm excited for it. I'm
excited to see how it works. And we're working with
a lovely lady from archery WA called Jade, and she's
assured us it's one of the safest sports that we
can play. So for anyone who has concerns, it is
(25:43):
one of the safest Sports that we can play. So
we can't we can't wait to show people that.
S1 (25:49):
So where's that coming Friday.
S3 (25:50):
So that'll be at Coburn. It's Jandakot Hall. Okay.
S1 (25:54):
And tell us again how how would people find out
about that particular event.
S3 (25:58):
We will be posting it all over Facebook. It'll be
on our website on our events page. And also like
I said, if you're a member of the WhatsApp community,
it'll be posted all over there as well.
S1 (26:10):
That's excellent. Now, I'd really like to thank you for
joining us. We have to finish our conversation now. Julie,
such a passionate conversation and I really was enthused and
enjoyed our conversation. And it's great that you could come
in and be part of our program today. Thanks for
coming in. Me too.
S3 (26:26):
Simon, thank you so much for inviting me in and
hopefully I'll see people out in the court, the field,
the course very soon.
S2 (26:36):
Thanks so much for listening. You're on Vision Australia Radio
and this is In Plain Sight with Simon and Abby.
Really hope you enjoyed that interview. And just to recap
Blind Sports, we are having a come and try day
on the 22nd of March at Jandakot Hall, so please,
if you're interested, get involved. You can look up their
(26:57):
website as well or their Facebook page for any more
information on local events. So their website was WW Dot
Blind Sports Iacomo and we'll include those links in the
podcast description as well. And just a reminder that you
can listen to us live on Vision Australia radio.org, and
(27:17):
you can listen any time on any of the major
streaming platform services. Just search up in plain sight. Thank
you so much and we'll see you next week. Bye
for now.
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