What happens when someone refuses to accept the limits placed on them?

This week on ListenABLE, Angus O’Loughlin and Dylan Alcott sit down with Brodie Taylor, the first person in Australia to become a qualified wheelchair netball umpire.

Diagnosed with transverse myelitis at just seven months old, Brodie has spent his life navigating disability, accessibility and assumptions. But instead of accepting barriers, he found a way to create history in Australian sport.

Brodie shares how netball unexpectedly found him, how officiating gave him a new purpose, and why confidence is often the biggest difference-maker for people with disability.He also opens up on wanting a future career in politics, where he hopes to help drive accessibility and meaningful change across Australia.

Topics Covered

- Becoming Australia’s first wheelchair netball umpire

- Living with transverse myelitis

- Disability and sport misconceptions

- Confidence and self-belief

- Why representation matters

- Netball strategy and officiating

- Accessibility in Australia

- Future ambitions in politics

Best Quotes

“Disability doesn’t mean inability.”

“It’s you against the world. If you want it, go get it.”

“Once you have confidence in yourself, no one can stop you.”

“We can’t change everything overnight, but we can start.”

Chapters

00:00 Meet Brodie Taylor

02:01 Making Australian netball history

03:23 Diagnosed at seven months old

06:58 Finding netball and purpose

10:16 Becoming an umpire

13:21 Breaking bias in sport

18:10 Why politics is next

21:43 Confidence and disability

24:49 Advice for the next generation

27:14 Bowl of Uncomfortable

Brodie Taylor, wheelchair netball umpire, ListenABLE podcast, Dylan Alcott podcast, disability sport Australia, accessible sport, netball Australia, transverse myelitis, disability advocate Australia