How the Goannas overcame adversity for a shot at the Deaflympics

The Australian men's Deaf basketball team has helped its players find community, confidence and a spot on the world basketball stage.

Photo credit: Supplied

It’s easy to take for granted how much of the basketball experience is auditory. The sweet swish of a basket and the familiar sound of sneakers squeaking on polished wood are part of the game’s ambient noise.

Then there’s the all-important on-court communication: guards calling plays, teammates warning each other of incoming screens and coaches barking instructions.

For the Goannas, Australia’s Deaf men’s basketball team, the game looks much the same, but the mode of communication is completely different.

Players in this form of the sport can have different levels of hearing loss; to be eligible for Deaflympics basketball, they must have a hearing loss of 55 decibels or more in their better ear. All competitors take out their hearing aids or cochlear implants during games.

Goannas coach Brent Reid tells The Pick and Roll that he’s just as animated as the next coach but uses different methods to get his message across.

“We have an interpreter with me all the time who interprets my ranting and raving,” he laughs.

“We also try to simplify our X’s and O’s messages. We use Auslan – the official sign language of Australia – and we’ve got an abbreviated version of that which relates to basketball terminology. Then there’s a lot of me jumping up and down, trying to get in the vision of the guys.

“It’s a very funny game in that you coach heavily at dead ball [situations], and then, it’s what I’d describe as a rollercoaster; you’re just there for the ride until the ball gets handed over.”

Goannas captain and point guard Jordan Woolmer says he’ll often use hand signals to keep his teammates on the same page. “It’s a little more challenging, but a lot of the time, we’ll run continuous sets that have easy reads, so there’s not that confusion. We’re very structured in how we play to make sure we’re operating smoothly together.”

Deaf basketball also uses scoreboard lighting to signal when a referee has called a foul and play has stopped.

“Sometimes, you’ll get someone who keeps legging it down the court [after a stoppage], and they think they’re scoring an easy two points, but they [get] dragged back to the other end,” Woolmer smiles.

A return to international competition

This September, the Goannas and the Australian women’s team,  the Geckos, will compete in the Asia Pacific Deaf Basketball Championships at Melbourne’s State Basketball Centre.

Woolmer expects Japan and Chinese Taipei to be among the Goannas’ toughest opponents at the event, which is a qualifying tournament for the 2025 Deaflympics, which will be held in Tokyo next November.

The return to international competition has been a long time coming. A 2019 iteration of this tournament was set to take place in Hong Kong but was cancelled due to political unrest. Then, COVID-19 happened.

The Goannas have never had a steady stream of corporate sponsorship or government support, so they have needed a healthy dose of persistence and resourcefulness to keep the program going.

Reid has been the Goannas coach since 2014 and has seen five presidents come and go at Deaf Basketball Australia, the national body for Deaf and hard of hearing players. For three years, there was no president in place, but the coaches, support staff and players all chipped in. Woolmer, who works as an accountant, helped out with the finances and management.

In the last couple of years, however, interest in the sport has boomed. There were only six players the first time Reid ran a Goannas training session. At the most recent try-out, 29 players vied for a spot on the squad.

“It’s grown unbelievably and Jordan and myself are really proud that we’ve been able to keep it going,” Reid reflects. “But it’s probably at the point where it needs to take that next step and be officially taken on by Basketball Australia to become one of our national teams.”

The Jordan rules: How Woolmer found Deaf basketball

Born in the Central West New South Wales town of Mudgee, Woolmer played basketball from a young age. When he started to lose his hearing at eight years old, he took some time out of the game.

Eventually, he got hearing aids and, later, cochlear implants in both ears.

“I sort of hit that point where I couldn’t lose any more hearing, so I just decided to get back into it,” he explains.

After a couple of seasons playing state league for Dubbo, he discovered the Deaf sports scene, initially through baseball.

“I was in a mainstream school, and my family didn’t really know about the Deaf community and that kind of stuff,” he says.

Woolmer, now 32, attended his first Goannas training camp in 2012 and says his time with the team has been a revelation.

“When you're playing mainstream basketball, you kind of change the shape of who you are just to fit in. Playing with the guys on our team, everyone comes from that background and understands the challenges that you're facing in regular day-to-day life. There's never that need to explain that stuff just when you're at our basketball camps; there’s just that understanding there.”

Woolmer also says the Asia Pacific Deaf Basketball Championships are an opportunity for many of the team to play in front of family and for the squad to thank a network of local teams that have long supported them.

“Melbourne's pretty big for the Deaf community of Australia. We're really looking forward to putting on a good tournament because we've had a lot of support from a lot of the clubs in Victoria over the last ten to 12 years, in terms of getting scrimmage games and stuff like that. We’ll finally be able to give those guys an opportunity to come down and watch us play.”

A coach’s journey: growing players and people

Reid, who also works as an assistant coach for NBL1 men’s team Geelong United, has been with the Goannas since 2014.

The team osteopath initially asked him to run one training session. He reached out to several contacts who he considered more qualified coaches, asking them to take his place. When none of them could make it, he ran the session himself and instantly found he loved being around the group.

When an opportunity to be the Goannas head coach arose, the players and support staff urged him to apply. He’s never looked back.

Reid says it’s been hugely rewarding to pass on life lessons and watch his team grow as ballers but also gain confidence and mature as men. “One thing I learned through playing basketball is how hard you’ve got to work to be successful in life.

“I never made it to be a pro. I probably had the skill and ability to do that, but I didn’t have anybody that had the push and was like ‘you can do this’. I failed, but I’ve been really successful in business and my working life through understanding how much hard work you need to make these things a success.

“Competing in the Deaflympics and getting an Asia-Pacific gold medal in our bag; those things are amazing, but seeing the guys go out and start businesses, be successful in good jobs, start families, buy houses and do all that stuff has been the nicest thing for me to watch.”

He says keeping a core group of players, support staff and interpreters together for the long haul has been vital to the team’s success. They are now ranked in the Deaf International Basketball Federation’s world top ten.

“Any time you get a core group that is motivated, passionate and has similar goals, it takes a lot of pressure off the coaching staff.

“We know the guys are there for the right reasons. They want to get coached. They want to get better. I’m never begging or pleading with the guys to do the work. They want to be there, and they drive a lot of the culture.”

Photo credit: Supplied

An event for community

The upcoming Asia Pacific Deaf Championships will tie in with the National Week of Deaf People, which features a range of events celebrating Deaf individuals and the community.

Rebecca Adam, CEO of Expression Australia, a peak not-for-profit that seeks to empower Deaf and hard of hearing people, told The Pick and Roll they’re honoured to be associated with the event and the team.

“The Goannas not only represent Australia, but they represent the Australian Deaf community,” Adam says.

“We are all behind them and so proud of what they’ve already achieved and what they’re definitely going to achieve in September.”

Woolmer, who is also helping organise the event, can’t wait to get the team together again to compete for a spot in the first Deaflympics since 2017.

“Everyone’s got a different reason [for playing] and a different background with hearing.

“There’s been some ups and downs, but we’ve been together for a really long time. We’re all around the same age and we’re a real close-knit group. At the end of the day, we’re all just basketball fans.”