Caitlin Hannen-Williams looks like any other student out walking their dog as she crosses the green space of the Curtin Bentley campus. Take a closer look at the bright, orange sign wrapping Rene’s torso, though, and you soon realise there is more to their relationship.

Rene has been hard won, just like many other battles the 20 year old has had to fight to get the same access her peers take for granted. But it’s this determination, and talent, that could take her all the way to the Paralympics.

The screen arts student is part of a small group of Australians diagnosed with a degenerative eye condition called optic neuropathy, and part of an even smaller group of Australians who play goalball professionally.

Introduced to goalball aged 11 at a camp for kids with visual impairment, Caitlin competed in her first national championship in Melbourne only a year later. She now dons the shiny number 10 for the national women’s team, the Aussie Belles.

But for the bright and bubbly athlete, goalball is so much more than a way to stay fit or make her country proud – it’s about finding her people and building community. 

Caitlin was eight when she started to lose her vision. Her parents became concerned when the keen bookworm’s reading skills weren’t progressing at the rate of other children. She couldn’t see the pages. 

“I remember pointing at things to ask what they were and people being confused, thinking I was joking. I was a bit naive because I didn’t know everyone else could see the whiteboard,” Caitlin says. 

“I put rhinestones on the start button on the microwave and the 180 degrees on the oven, so I could feel them and knew where to turn the dial to, that kind of stuff around the house. Mum and Dad were like, ‘yes, make our kitchen pretty’.”

With Caitlin’s eyesight rapidly deteriorating and sight reading becoming increasingly exhausting, her mother Raquelle spent two years lobbying the WA education department to provide Caitlin with the opportunity to learn braille. 

“I think it’s very easy, especially for people who start off sighted and lose their vision, to become stuck and say ‘Oh my god, I can’t do anything now, like what’s the point?’” Caitlin says. “But I am super lucky to have the parents I have. They were so open minded and proactive about everything and they didn’t see this as a barrier.” 

“[My parents] first thought was not we need to fix this, it was we need to figure out what we can do so that Caitlin can do things like everyone else.”

Access to NDIS and support organisations such as VisAbilityWA was vital. VisAbility gave her the opportunity to learn how to do everyday tasks such as cleaning, washing and navigating her surroundings as a newly blind person.

Whether through lack of opportunity or a preference for relying on their remaining sight and other technology, Caitlin says most partially sighted people do not learn braille. But Caitlin and her family agree the tactile language gave her the best chance to thrive. 

“I don’t know if I would’ve graduated high school without it – and if I would’ve had to battle to read and study the same way everyone else does in high school, then I definitely wouldn’t have gone to un,” Caitlin says. “It would’ve been a nightmare to have to do any more study.”

The budding filmmaker knows the degenerative nature of her condition means there’s always the possibility of waking up completely blind.  “The prospect is a lot less terrifying now because I’ve had these opportunities and I know I can cope,” Caitlin says. “Braille is such a valuable thing to know as a vision-impaired person, just for life.” 

Belle of the ball

But it’s out of the classroom and on the goalball court where Caitlin has found her calling. Specifically designed for those with vision impairment, goalball gives her a rare opportunity to participate in team sports. 

Comprised of two teams of six, three blindfolded and kneeling, members of each team take turns rolling a 1.25kg ball across an 18-metre indoor court toward the opposing team’s goals. The opposing team listen to bells inside the ball to try to block the shot, with players relying on hearing and coordination to navigate the court and make it past the opposition to score. 

“I love everything about goalball but most that I have an option. When I was growing up and doing sport in school, I didn’t really have an option,” Caitlin says with a laugh, reminiscing about constantly banging her head on swimming pool walls. 

“Playing tennis or badminton or just running with other kids is so much scarier than you can imagine when you can’t see anything,” Caitlin says. “So having something I can participate in myself was so valuable to me. Something I could make my own, with a community and make my own friends, was so incredibly awesome.” 

Selected for the Aussie Belles in 2022 and fresh off a World Cup appearance in Finland, Caitlin is frustrated by the lack of funding for goal ball. When she competes in the Nationals in Sydney this week, everything will come out of pocket, including tournament fees close to $1000, flights and meals. 

Her mother Raquelle, who is also Goalball WA president, says the organisation doesn’t receive any government funding and relies entirely on membership fees to pay for facilities and training. The organisation can submit grant applications to the State Government for subsidised uniforms and equipment but not to cover the cost of tournaments, flights or training camps, which remain entirely self-funded. 

In the past, the Western Australian Institute of Sport (WAIS) has given scholarships to selected athletes to fund their endeavours. Caitlin says these often go to able-bodied athletes in more mainstream sports but this year, she’s optimistic. The rising star is part of the first WAIS para-sports unit, a seven-week program that will select up to 40 para-athletes for support in the lead-up to the 2032 Brisbane Paralympic Games.

“We’re hoping this pilot program will be able to fast track these athletes, especially the athletes already competing in the Australian teams, into giving them some kind of scholarship so they can access the gym, nutritionists, strength and conditioning coaches and that sort of thing,” Raquelle says. 

“Goalball still doesn’t have any athletes getting any funding from WAIS or Paralympics Australia, even though we have athletes competing in the Australian teams.”

But it’s all about proving Paralympic medal potential. To receive support from WAIS, an athlete has to be considered ‘podium or medal ready’. Raquelle says due to the nature of the sport, the whole team must qualify for the Paralympics for anyone to have a chance of receiving a scholarship.

“I don’t know if [the para-unit] is the answer yet or what the answer is but it’s extremely unfair goalball players have to pay everything out of their own pocket,” she says.

A guiding light 

Caitlin applied for a guide dog after graduating high school in 2022, hoping to gain more independence after moving out of home and starting university. 

She waited almost two years to be placed with Rene. 

Now, she keeps Caitlin from “walking into people literally all the time” and gives her the reassurance she needs to be led through busy city streets, around shops and an often crowded Curtin campus.

It’s a big change from the lengthy waiting period when Caitlin was apprehensive about leaving the house alone and battling constant headaches from eye strain. 

While the Cook Government invested a further $5 million into Guide Dogs WA’s breeding and training program in June, the organisation is the only offering the service in the state, with about 150 guide dogs going to those in need over the past four years. 

Guide Dogs WA says the high standards of training and meticulous nature of the pairing process mean it takes a vision-impaired person about six to 12 months on average to be matched with a guide dog.

But Caitlin believes it’s “crazy” it takes this long, considering the significant and unique benefits working dogs offer. 

“People get out of my way when they see me coming toward them now, when before, I would be on campus walking into people and chairs and falling over things and people would be like ‘what the hell, is she drunk?’” she says. “I remember telling my guide dog instructor Jenny ‘this is amazing’ and I felt like I could concentrate so much more at uni because I didn’t have a constant headache everyday.”

Guide Dogs WA team leader Jenny Gleeson has worked with service dogs for 33 years and been at the organisation for seven. She says previous government funding has made a huge difference in availability. 

“Three, four years ago, we didn’t have enough dogs. We just couldn’t source enough from over east to meet the demand,” Gleeson says. “The McGowan government gave us $5 million to set up our own breeding program and now we’re in a much better position.”

Service dogs go through about two years of training and assessment, including experience in volunteer homes. With the organisation struggling to find enough volunteers to house the dogs during this process, Gleeson says they are constantly recruiting

“It’s not just a case of, here’s the next dog and we’ll just give it to the next person on the waiting list. We need to make sure we’ve got the right dog for the person’s lifestyle, workload, speed and confidence,” she says. 

With Guide Dogs WA continuing to educate the public, Gleeson says it’s good to see service dogs becoming more accepted across society. “It was just the guide dog, then hearing dogs, then dogs for the disabled, we now have dogs for PTSD and for people with autism. I think we’re realising that actually dogs can make a huge difference to many people’s lives.””

For Caitlin, being paired with Rene changed her life. Just like being able to represent Australia in goalball, it’s about being given the opportunity.

“I always say it would be awesome for more fully-sighted people to play goalball. The more players we can get, the better we can get as athletes, the better results we get, and more funding we get. I’m always trying to sell goalball to people,” Caitlin says. 

“It’s important to remember we can always improve and make an effort to make things more accessible, whether it be in these areas, or online or with transport. It’s great though, because it’s definitely getting better – awareness is just the most important thing.”