In this Vision Australia audio, I share how Empower Golf is making the game accessible to people of all abilities. The organisation supports people with physical and mental disabilities, veterans, and anyone seeking a more inclusive pathway into golf.
Empower Golf runs free come-and-try clinics across Australia, along with private coaching led by specially trained PGA professionals. Ongoing lessons may also be supported through NDIS funding.
Find out more at Home – Empower Golf
This interview was recorded in Belmont at the Vision Australia Radio Geelong studios, with interviewer Abi Grigsby.
Description by Patz Black – Vision Australia Radio Geelong
Link to Audio
- Transcript
00:13
S1
Uh, good morning Annette. Thank you for coming into Vision Australia Radio and for doing this interview with us today. So could you just start by introducing yourself?
00:22
S2
Thank you Abby. So my name is Annette Leishman. And, uh, I have a condition called retinitis pigmentosa, which is more commonly known as RP. Uh, as a child, I was always really clumsy, or so my parents thought. We lived on a farm on the south east of Tasmania, and it was quite isolated. So I was never, ever taken to a doctor to get any diagnosis. Nobody ever realised I was vision impaired. I just was bumping into things. I couldn’t play sport. And uh, and it was, uh, I realised that I was different to other people, especially when I started school. Uh, I wasn’t diagnosed till I was 27. And by that time I had actually become a teacher, which was quite difficult as well because I. Back in those days it was all bookwork and I did a lot of had to do a lot of reading and rereading because I’d missed a whole lot of sentences or paragraphs. But anyway, I got my goal there. When I was diagnosed. I was happy in one way, but devastated in another way because I was told that I would go blind. Um, at that stage, I would have had about 10% of my vision left. So it was like looking through, um, uh, toilet roll tubes. Uh, so I didn’t have any peripheral vision. I never had any peripheral vision. So if things come from the side balls or anything like that, obviously you’re not going to see them. And so it was quite a few years I’d tried to play sport, but it was just really difficult because nobody wanted to play with me because I couldn’t catch a ball or anything like that. And so after my diagnosis, I thought, right, I can settle back and just I’ve got to accept that I can’t do these things that I’ve wanted to do. But I always thought I would be sporty. But that was the end of that goal for me, really.
02:28
S1
Um, so you’re an ambassador with Blind Sports and Recreation, Victoria. What does this role involve for you?
02:34
S2
Um, my role there is, uh, raising awareness about, um, vision loss. Uh, it’s advocacy to different, um, groups to promote inclusion in sport and, uh, just advocating for people with vision loss to help them get involved in sport because sport is for everyone. And that’s what inclusion is all about.
03:04
S1
You do a lot of work around awareness. What do people most often misunderstand about blindness and sport?
03:11
S2
Uh, they think I think a lot of people would think that, uh, blind people can’t play sport, but that is not actually correct. We can, uh, with sports nowadays, there have been a lot of adaptations and modifications to sport, such as, uh, balls that have, um, sound in them and, uh, tactile markings, uh, different colors, uh, reduced court length. Um, and we have, um, uh, support people who, uh, mark out the length of the court or the course. Uh, and so sport is a lot different now. So we can play most of the everyday sports on the mainstream sports, but in a different way. So we can play sport, but in a different way.
04:06
S1
Uh, growing up, sport wasn’t always accessible to you. Can you tell us more about this and how it led you to become an advocate today?
04:15
S2
Well, I always felt that I was, in a way, excluded from sport because of my, um, deficits of not being able to, uh, catch balls. And it was always about ball sports. And I used to love running, but I couldn’t quite stay in the lane markings, all those sorts of things. So, um, when I moved to Melbourne, which was in 2018, uh, I discovered Blind Sports and Recreation Victoria. And that absolutely changed my life. I realised that I could get, um, involved in sport and it gave me the opportunity to, uh, become an advocate for other people that I met. I met a new community of people who were like me, and it just gave me a lot of opportunities to help encourage those people to get into sport as well.
05:13
S1
What was it like the first time you were able to participate in a sport in an inclusive way?
05:19
S2
Ah, I actually felt quite emotional because I was actually doing it. So my first sport was blind tennis, and I went along and for the first three sessions, I couldn’t hit a single ball because I was using my remaining sight to try and hit the ball. I don’t know if I said that my sight now is it’s gone from the tube to the like a pinhole. Now, I always say it’s like looking through a pinhole now. So in all those those years, it’s actually I’ve still got some functional sight. So I use that sight to try and hit the tennis ball. But of course, it never, ever worked. So once the tennis ball left the server, I had no idea where it actually was. And then we got this amazing coach called Riley. And, uh, he said to me, he said, don’t try and look for the ball. Just listen to the ball. And so I got a whole new technique. He said, uh, just listen to it. And then on the third bounce, he said, try and hit it. You’ll have a better idea of where it is. And so I started doing doing it that way. And I’d start to get about three balls out of ten. I would actually hit, uh, that’s a few years ago. Now, I’ve never improved on three balls out of ten, but I’m happy with that because, uh, I’m just there. I just do it socially. A lot of people are very competitive, but me, I’m not competitive at all. I just am there for the social interaction and the community and to feel connected to that community that is, you know, first time playing inclusive sport. I felt that connection straight away, like I belong to a community. And that just made me quite emotional. Yeah, in a happy way.
07:15
S1
You’re involved in things like blind tennis and walking programs. What have those experiences given you personally?
07:22
S2
Those experiences have been invaluable for helping improve my balance because, um, uh, not everyone knows that people with low or no vision, they actually have poor balance as well. We know that, uh, deafness can, um, you know, be a factor there as well. Poor balance, but also, um, with vision loss and so doing sport and involved in walking, uh, that helps with balance. It’s also learning new skills, being part of a community. Um, it’s a holistic, um, way of life, being involved in these blind sports. It’s um, um, helps mentally, physically and socially. So obviously physically we’re getting fit, um, socially, having a whole new bunch of people to hang out with and mentally developing confidence and, um, raising the self-esteem and those sorts of things. It’s been invaluable.
08:31
S1
You’re participating in the upcoming Come and Try Golf day in Geelong with Empower Golf Australia. And this is something that’s relatively new for you too, isn’t it?
08:41
S2
Yes, yes. But I’m really looking forward to that. I have had a quite a few lessons with Empower Golf when I lived in Melbourne. Um, but I, as I said, I moved to Geelong last year, so due to life circumstances, I haven’t had much involvement, uh, in golf. Um, but I was, I did have the ability to go to come and try blind golf day in Geelong and um, um, so that’s another thing that I do with my, uh, role in blind sports that I’ve got to mention before, um, the come and try days. So I’ve, I’ve done a couple of those with golf and bowls and those sorts of things. So, um, I’m just looking forward to that and, uh, uh, my time has come to get involved again. So I’m looking forward to, to being involved in golf again.
09:38
S1
What would you say to someone who’s never tried sports before because they didn’t think it was possible?
09:44
S2
I would say that you’re not alone in thinking that. We’ve all thought that at some stage, um, no one more so than me probably. Uh, but, um, you’ve just got to be willing to let it happen. Uh, Um, just get out there and give it a go. Uh, you’ve got to start somewhere. So it’s quite daunting, but there’s so much encouragement out there. If you, um, try a, a sport, a disability sport, there are lots of groups, lots of different, uh, places you can go to get support and get encouragement. And there are so many different options as well. So I’d say, yeah, give it a go.
10:34
S1
For communities like Geelong, what difference does it make when events like Empower Golf Clinic are offered locally?
10:41
S2
That makes so much difference in a very, very positive way. With the come and try golf clinics, uh, if we have a clinic, uh, in the, um, neighborhood or in the local area. It is, uh, very beneficial. More people will be able to access those come and try clinics, because for a lot of people with disabilities and blind people, getting to a location is very difficult. So for blind people, for instance, if they don’t have a support person to drive them to a certain location, uh, that’s, you know, they want to try a clinic that’s not in their own location. They may have to get a public transport. They’ve got to plan their trip. All those sorts of things. There may be a higher cost involved. And then they’re not actually really sure that they’re going to enjoy that particular activity. So there are so many factors that they will just think, well, it’s all going to be too hard. And will I know anyone there? Uh, all those things that may make it really well do make it really difficult for people with disabilities. So, uh, come and try days in different locations. They just fantastic for communities, people in those communities.
12:11
S1
If you were to convince people with disabilities to attend one of the Empower Golf, come and try clinics, how would you in your own words?
12:20
S2
I would say. If you want to do it, you just have to get involved. Um, there is so much more than just the come and try clinic. Um, these clinics, um, they provide their, um, wonderful trained. Oh, they are trained anyway. Wonderful coaches. Um, they provide all the equipment and you get to try um whatever sport the golf in a um, a supportive environment and uh, you meet a whole community of people doing the same thing. So you don’t have to bring you don’t have to bring anything and you don’t need any experience. It’s just the experience of trying something new and meeting people. And it’s fun. Yeah. So I’d say go for it.
13:13
S1
What is next for your advocacy work?
13:16
S2
Uh, well, um, I forgot to mention also with, um, Blind Sports and Recreation Victoria, uh, I delivered the vision loss awareness training online and face to face. So I’ve had some I want to get more into more face to face work. Um, so I’ve actually had some opportunities to deliver the training in schools and clubs. And that has just been so amazing because we can take, um, equipment with us resources. When I went to a school, they were able to try out the tennis balls and um, those sorts of things and you can take the blind um, the simulator glasses and it’s, it’s really good because, um, I want, um, just to really, uh, raise more awareness, particularly as we’re at Australia has an ageing population. And so there are going to be more and more older people going blind at an older age. And so we need to be able to, you know, promote, uh, raise awareness so that we can help more people. Um, and, um, I just want that to happen. So that inclusion in sport one day becomes the norm, not the exception.
14:37
S1
All right. Thank you very much, Jeanette, for coming in today and for sharing your story and your experiences. It’s certainly very inspiring to the disabled and the blind community. So the come and try golf day in Geelong with Empower Golf. They are held every month and you can find details on the website. It is completely free as well so get involved if you’d like.
