 = Michelle Rzepecki = 
 
 Michelle Rzepecki ( born 6 November 1986 ) is an Australian goalball player classified as a <unk> competitor . She made her debut for the Australia women 's national goalball team at the 2011 African @-@ Oceania regional Paralympic qualifying competition . She was selected to represent Australia at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in goalball . 
 
 = = Personal life = = 
 
 Rzepecki was born on 6 November 1986 in <unk> , New South Wales , and is 173 centimetres ( 68 in ) tall . She has the visual disability rod <unk> , which she acquired at birth . She can play the saxophone and piano . Rzepecki is a third @-@ generation Australian , as her grandfather moved to Australia from Germany . While attending Castle Hill High School , she returned to the country of her grandfather 's birth to do study abroad that was funded by a scholarship from the Society for Australian @-@ German Student Exchange Inc . She also lived in Bolivia for a while , working at a school for children with visual <unk> . While there , she introduced the children to goalball . Part of her work in the country was funded by a mini @-@ grant . As of 2012 , she works as a Sydney Tower <unk> guide . 
 
 = = Goalball = = 
 
 Rzepecki is a goalball player , and for visual disability sports , is classified as a <unk> competitor . She is a centre and winger . She has a goalball scholarship with the New South Wales Institute of Sport . Rzepecki started playing the sport in 2002 . She competed at the 2004 Australian National Goalball Championships , playing for the New South Wales goalball team which beat the Queensland goalball team in the finals . In 2011 , Rzepecki made her national team debut during the African @-@ Oceania regional Paralympic qualifying competition . She played in the game against the New Zealand women 's national goalball team that Australia won . As a member of the 2011 team , she finished sixth at the <unk> Goalball World Cup . 
 The Australian Paralympic Committee had chosen to work on her development as a goalball player with the idea that she might be able to qualify for , and win a medal at , the 2016 Summer Paralympics . She was a named a member of the <unk> <unk> that was going to the 2012 Summer Paralympics , in what would be her debut Games . That the team <unk> for the Games came as a surprise , as the Australian Paralympic Committee had been working on player development with an idea of the team qualifying for the 2016 Summer Paralympics . An Australian team had not participated since the 2000 Summer Paralympics , when they earned an automatic selection as hosts , and the team finished last in the competition . Going into the Paralympics , her team was ranked eighth in the world . In the 2012 Summer Paralympics tournament , the <unk> played games against Japan , Canada , the United States and Sweden . They lost every game , and did not advance to the finals . 
 
 