Day: January 23, 2026

SANFL teams up with Guide Dogs SA/NT to announce new Blind Low Vision League

Three AFL players stand on a lawn in front of a stadium, two in yellow guernseys and one in navy, while two Guide Dogs in orange harnesses sit proudly in the foreground facing the camera.

SANFL and Guide Dogs SA/NT have teamed up to launch South Australia’s first Aussie Rules competition for people with blindness and low vision. The new SANFL Blind Low Vision (BLV) League will kick off in March, giving participants the chance to play modified, competitive footy in a safe and supportive environment.

Games will be played indoors at AFL Max at Adelaide Airport so players can clearly hear the specially modified Sherrin, which features an electronic beeper to help track the ball. The six-a-side format will include 8–10 players per team, with goal umpires using rattles to indicate when the ball enters the scoring zone and optional Human Guide Training offered to participants, volunteers and staff.

Supported by State Government funding through the Office for Recreation, Sport and Racing’s Collaboration Grants program, the League reflects SANFL’s goal to make footy inclusive and accessible to everyone. Guide Dogs SA/NT says the partnership is an important step in increasing access, independence and participation in sport for people with any level of vision.

Australia moves to strengthen access to community sport

Three young rugby players stand arm in arm on a sunny field, the middle player in a dark blue Owls jersey and the others in green striped jerseys, one holding a rugby ball, all facing the camera.

community sport through more informed and coordinated decision-making. The Plan, expected to be released mid-year, sits under Play Well – the national participation strategy designed to ensure everyone has a place in sport – and will guide how facilities are planned, prioritised and used so more Australians can connect, participate and thrive.

Consultations with more than 2,500 people in 2025 highlighted key challenges, including ageing and fragmented facilities, complex and inconsistent planning processes, limited access to venues (including schools), rising costs and heavy reliance on government funding, and ongoing participation barriers for women, multicultural communities and people with disability. Stakeholders also noted that many facilities are not being used to their full potential.

In response, the Plan is being built around a clear vision – Everyone has a place to play – and a shared “common ground” for the sector: Optimise what we have, grow what we need. Rather than simply building more venues, the focus is on creating the right number, mix and types of places close to where people live, and on helping governments, sports and facility owners work together more effectively.

Over the next six months, the final phase of work will confirm the key problems, test the shared vision and common ground, identify the system enablers needed for change, and finalise priority projects to drive impact. Once released, the National Community Sport Infrastructure Plan will provide practical, nationally aligned guidance to ensure sport infrastructure delivers inclusive, high-quality participation opportunities for communities across Australia.

Para Snowboarder Becomes First Aussie To Win 50 World Cup Medals

A Para snowboarder in an Australian team uniform races down a snowy course, knees bent and leaning forward on a snowboard, with a blue Paralympic gate flag in the foreground and blurred red fencing in the background.

Para snowboarding superstar Ben Tudhope has reached a remarkable milestone, becoming the first Australian winter athlete to claim 50 World Cup medals after adding two silvers at the FIS Para Snowboard World Cup in Austria.

His 50 World Cup podiums cement his status among the greats of Australian snow sports, alongside legends such as Michael Milton, Simon Patmore and Olympic moguls champion Jakara Anthony. In total, he has now collected 59 international medals across World Cup, Paralympic and World Championships events, highlighting his consistency and impact over more than a decade at the top.

Tudhope made his Paralympic debut at Sochi 2014 as a 14-year-old, the youngest athlete at those Games, and carried the Australian flag at the Closing Ceremony. He later co-captained the Australian team at Beijing 2022, where he won bronze in the snowboard cross SB-LL2 and again served as Closing Ceremony flag bearer, before securing World Championship gold in Spain the following year.

Through it all, Ben credits a simple love of snowboarding and having fun on the mountain as the key to his performance, saying that joy and playfulness on snow underpin his drive to reach the podium at every race. Now 26 and heading towards his fourth Paralympic Games at Milano Cortina, he is deep in a heavy World Cup competition block as he fine-tunes his riding and helps lead an exciting Australian Para snowboard team.