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All young Robbie Dunia wanted was to emulate his big brother Mohammed and play local rugby league.
In fact, all the boys – also younger brothers Bilal, Zakariya, Amer and Isaac – loved the game in one way or another. There were hectic after school contests. Sometimes their cousins would come over to play.
“We even used to cut up the old Pepsi bottles to make our own kicking tees,” Robbie said. “We were so into it.”
So when Mohammed started playing for a club it seemed natural Robbie would follow suit. But it became apparent his rare eye condition, rod monochromatism, would pose a problem.
“We went to training and my mum talked to the coach. She told him I had a vision impairment and needed to wear glasses, but the coach said that because it’s tackle I couldn’t wear glasses. He said maybe I could wear prescription goggles.
“I was very self conscious at that time and didn’t want to be the only guy wearing goggles playing footy. That ruined things for me a bit. I couldn’t play and it did hurt me for a while. But then, when I was in Year 8, I found goalball and got right into that.”
That chance goalball demonstration at school set Dunia on a course to becoming a member of the Aussie Storm men’s national team. This August in Birmingham, the Storm will compete at the International Blind Sports Federation (IBSA) World Games, a major milestone in their quest to qualify for the Paris Paralympics.
Our AUS #Goalball teams for the IBSA World Games.
— AUS Paralympic Team (@AUSParalympics) May 1, 2023
Aussie Belles: Brodie Benson, Raissa Martin, Jessica Clark, Molly Smith, Zara Perry & Nikita Grosser.
Aussie Storm: Sidney Whipp, Robbie Dunia, Isaiah Muller, Matthew Bowry, Sam Byrne & Daniel Pritchard.@ibsagoalball pic.twitter.com/gc4o1ExxsB
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Australia’s men haven’t featured at Paralympic level since Sydney 2000. But this lineup, also including Isaiah Muller, Matthew Bowry, Sam Byrne, Daniel Pritchard and Sidney Whipp, is aiming to shake things up. They want to follow the lead of Australia’s women’s team, the Belles, who reached the quarter-finals at the Tokyo Paralympics.
“I train with several of the Belles players and they’re like family to me,” Dunia said. “It was awesome to see them do so well in Tokyo. I just think, ‘If they can do it, we can do it too’.
“The IBSA Games is a big motivation for me. Every time I think ‘Oh, I’m a bit tired’, I just think to myself there’s hundreds of people going to this tournament in the same boat but they keep pushing. So I’ve got to do that too.”
Preparing has been especially hard this year. Usually Dunia would rest during Ramadan, the Muslim month of fasting and reflection. But this year the timing meant he couldn’t.
“The goalball people have always been really good to me with my cultural and religious beliefs,” he said.
“They’re good about all the things we celebrate and also the things we don’t celebrate.
“When I’ve been fasting for Ramadan they’ve told me I could take that time off and just keep them updated on how I’m going. But this time we had a competition in Thailand a couple of days after Ramadan finished and it was the IBSA Games selection, so I had to train.
“I did goalball training on weekends and core exercises at home. I did more at the start of Ramadan but it slowed down because it was hard to manage.”
Challenges aside, Dunia loves playing goalball in a respectful and supportive environment. It’s not rugby league, as he imagined when he was younger, but goalball has enabled him to feel included among his brothers’ various sporting pursuits.
“They said that if our team makes it to Paris they’re all going to come across and support us. I told them that making it to the Paralympics is going to be very very hard. But they’re just so supportive of my involvement in goalball and they’re very proud of how far I’ve come in the sport.”
By: David Sygall, Paralympics Australia
Posted: 5 June 2023
