Capped three times for the Matildas, but not since 2016, Casey Dumont has long harboured ambitions of representing her country again.
She thought the opportunity had passed her by – until a text out of the blue from her ex-teammate Melissa Barbieri turned her off-season upside down, and into something extraordinary, enriching and … well, maybe even better, in its own way.
Former Matilda Casey Dumont has joined the Bilbies – Australia’s women’s blind football team – as their goalkeeper, and is hoping to guide them to the next Paralympics.Credit: Haruo Wanibe/JBFA
For the past three years, Dumont has been juggling her commitments as a dual-code athlete: playing in the A-League Women for Melbourne Victory, Central Coast Mariners and Perth Glory and, in between, for Hawthorn in the AFLW. Back-to-back-to-back seasons for that long without a break takes its toll, even if you love what you do.
The 33-year-old was planning a much-needed holiday when Barbieri got in touch, having spotted something on social media that she thought she could help with, and might appeal to her.
The Bilbies, Australia’s blind football national team for women, were in desperate need of a goalkeeper. (Before you ask, it’s the only position in which players are allowed to be sighted; everyone else is vision-impaired and, for good measure, they wear blindfolds.)
The team’s usual goalkeeper, Erin Murphy, couldn’t get a release from her NPL club to join them for their upcoming tournament in Japan.
Casey Dumont (right) and Melissa Barbieri (centre) with Lydia Williams ahead of the 2011 World Cup.Credit: Getty Images
It’s not an unfamiliar situation; in the past, the Bilbies have had to register team officials as back-up options if their first-choice goalkeeper wasn’t available for whatever reason. But it did leave them in a bit of a pickle. Coach Bess Hepworth was contemplating the possibility that she, herself, would have to fill the void. She’s 49 and still recovering from recent surgery.
“I was getting a medical clearance from our physio. It was pretty dire, mate,” she says. “I was like, not on my watch are they going to be in this situation.”
So she put the call-out on Facebook to her Australian football networks, which are extensive, having previously worked for the old SA Women’s Soccer Association and helped out as a coach with junior international teams.
“I said, this is the deal,” she says. “Do you guys have, A, any availability and B, any contacts? We have to move. We’ve got two weeks to pull this off.”
That’s where Barbieri caught Hepworth’s desperate plea and flicked it onto Dumont, whose season with the Glory had just concluded.
“I thought, why not?” Dumont says. “It’d be a great way to expand my knowledge and learn something new. I reached out to Bess, we chatted, and then I basically worked out how I would be a part of it, and it made it work.”
Casey Dumont.Credit: Getty Images
When the news was announced on the Bilbies’ group chat – by Jude, Hepworth’s deafblind and non-verbal son, who she described as one of the team’s unofficial mascots – the response was euphoric.
“It was just such a beautiful mutual opportunity for the girls to know that they have someone that’s going to have their back,” says Hepworth.
That was four weeks ago. A week later, Dumont was in Adelaide for a one-day training camp to meet her new teammates; they knew she was in the room before she’d announced herself, thanks to their heightened other senses.
“It was pretty cool. That was a learning thing for me,” she says.
And last week, Dumont flew direct from Dubai, where she managed to squeeze in a short holiday break, to Japan, and wore the gloves at the IBSA Blind Football Grand Prix as the Bilbies chased their first-ever world ranking.
Casey Dumont and the Bilbies celebrate.Credit: Haruo Wanibe/JBFA
‘We just want to be included’
Australia’s women’s blind football team was founded in 2014, and their nickname – the ‘Bilbies’ – couldn’t be more fitting. Like the kangaroo, the bilby is a native marsupial, linking them symbolically to the Socceroos, Matildas and other national sides. But more poignantly, the bilby itself is also vision-impaired, and relies on its other senses to get by.
Indeed, getting by remains a challenge. The team is not directly affiliated with Football Australia, and they are entirely self-funded; they were only able to get to Japan last week on the back of a GoFundMe page. Nobody is getting paid. For Hepworth, the trip is costing $2500.
“We’re wearing Macron, not Nike,” says Hepworth.
“Our sponsor is not aligned with Football Australia because we just haven’t been able to receive the buy-in from them. We’re not trying to slam Football Australia, we just want to be included. But I’m sure with Heather [Garriock, interim CEO] at the helm and Casey in the goals, we can sort that out.”
The Bilbies hope to compete at the Paralympics in 2028 but that, too, is out of their hands. Only men’s blind football is currently part of the program; a decision on the inclusion of the women is set to be made in June.
Dumont wants to be there with them, and is hopeful her next A-League club is understanding and open to it contractually. Her involvement with the Bilbies is believed to be a world-first for women’s blind football; while most nations try to import the best goalkeepers they can, none has gone as far as bringing in a decorated former international who has won three A-League championships, an Asian Cup in 2010, went to a World Cup in 2011, and has a fearsome reputation as a penalty-stopping specialist.
Casey Dumont and the Bilbies.Credit: Haruo Wanibe/JBFA
They finished third at the IBSA Blind Football Grand Prix, beating England 1-0 in the third-place match.
“I didn’t think I’d be able to put my green and gold back on,” Dumont says.
“I can’t really say that because [as a goalkeeper] I don’t wear green and gold, but what I mean is that I’m really excited that I’m able to represent my country again. It’s a great opportunity, but it’s also so fulfilling.
“If I can help this team go far and grow and learn and expand, and be involved in so many more tournaments and championships, then that’s the biggest reward of it all.
“It’d be amazing to be able to tick off a Paralympics, but I’m looking at the smaller goals, and that’s just getting the funding that’s needed for this Bilbies team, getting them involved as many tournaments as they can, helping the girls grow and competing against some of the best teams in the world. Because we have a very young team and I can’t wait to see what this team is like in five years’ time. If this is what they’re like after being together for a couple of months … they’re going to be phenomenal.”
Away from football, Dumont is a nurse. This isn’t her first brush with disability – she has family experiences, too – but it is with vision-impairment, and the unique challenges that come with it.
She has begun to notice how much her teammates get stared at in public, or how few people actually move out of the way when someone is walking nearby with a cane. And she loves how ready they are to laugh at themselves and each other when someone stacks it.
“They’ve taught me so much,” she says.
“I think I’ve also taught them a bit about, obviously, playing professional soccer. But it’s been more learning than I ever thought possible, and I’m so thankful that I took this opportunity.
“I’m in awe of the girls. So if they’re in awe of me, I’m in awe of them.”
