Interview With Katelyn Smith In 2023 /

Summary

Katelyn is an award-winning goalkeeper for the ParaMatildas. Founded in 2019, the ParaMatildas is Australia’s first national team for women and girls with cerebral palsy, acquired brain injury and symptoms of stroke. Katelyn recently won the inaugural ParaMatildas Player of the Year and Goalkeeper of the Tournament after a silver medal winning run in their first international Women’s World Cup campaign in 2022. Katelyn Smith talks about her first memories of soccer and playing as a child in New South Wales. After giving up soccer for a period of time due to health issues, Katelyn got back into soccer with local clubs again. She discusses her disabilities and medical conditions, and her involvement with the ParaMatildas. Katelyn shares some of her experiences as part of the ParaMatildas, such as playing at the World Cup in Spain as well as sharing her excitement about the coming Para Asia Cup. She talks about the classification of players and the rules around how many players of each classification are allowed on the field at one time. Katelyn only started goalkeeping full-time when she joined the ParaMatildas, and she talks about her learning process.