Brittany Anderson is an Australian Pearl - she's hoping you can help her get to the World Championships at the 2026 VIRTUS World Basketball Championships in Bangkok in November.

Listen to Brittany on Australian Pearls Podcast

The Australian Pearls have one of the richest success stories of any Australian sports teams, and yet their international campaigns are largely self-funded.

Can you help? Please donate now. Every dollar helps.

NSW Athletes Named in 2026 Australian Peals Squad

Brittany Anderson is 28 years old, incredibly shy, quietly determined, and much more comfortable letting her basketball do the talking.

This November, she has the chance to do something extraordinary.

Brittany has been selected by Basketball Australia to represent the Australian Pearls at the 2026 Virtus VIBF World Basketball Cup in Bangkok, Thailand.

The Australian Pearls are Australia’s national women’s basketball team for athletes with an intellectual impairment, and Brittany has earned a place among a very small group of athletes selected to represent our country in the 3x3 competition.

Basketball Australia is sending just two teams of five athletes to Bangkok.

Brittany is one of them.

A quiet young woman with an extraordinary sporting story

Brittany lives with autism, an intellectual disability and learning differences that can make everyday life challenging.

She can find unfamiliar people and situations overwhelming. She struggles with confidence and is often reluctant to put herself forward.

But basketball has always been different.

On the court, Brittany has found a place where she belongs.

She has represented Australia internationally on several occasions, competed at the highest level of intellectual disability basketball and spent years developing not only as an athlete, but also as a basketball coach working with children.

Sport has given Brittany opportunities to build confidence, independence, friendships and a belief in herself that does not always come easily away from the court.

And she has earned every opportunity through years of training, competition and persistence.

Representing the Australian Pearls

The Australian Pearls have an extraordinary international record.

They are currently:

Two Formal MVP Awards

Brittany is a two-time confirmed MVP, including being named MVP of the 2025 VIRTUS Women’s 5x5 World Basketball Championships and the 2026 Ivor Burge Women’s National Championships.

What's happening NOV 2026?

Brittany will depart Australia with the team on 29 October 2026, compete at the World Cup in Bangkok from 1 to 5 November, and return to Australia on 7 November.

For Brittany, wearing the green and gold is not something she takes for granted.

It represents years of hard work and an opportunity to show what athletes with intellectual disability can achieve when they are given the chance to develop their strengths.

Brittany has earned her place. Now we need to help her get there.

Representing Australia internationally comes with a significant cost.

Basketball Australia has advised that each Pearls athlete is required to contribute $5,000 towards the cost of the 2026 program.

That contribution goes towards:

We are hoping to raise money to help Brittany meet her required contribution and the additional costs involved in preparing for and participating in an international campaign.

For an athlete with disability, being selected to represent Australia does not mean the financial barriers disappear.

Brittany has already done everything she can do herself.

She trained.

She invested her own money in weekly private basketball coach and personal trainer to improve her game.

She competed.

She kept turning up, week after week.

And she earned her place in the Australian team.

Why this means so much

Brittany’s story is about much more than basketball.

There are many areas of life where she has to work significantly harder than the people around her.

Reading can be difficult. Numbers can be difficult. Communicating confidently with unfamiliar people can be difficult. New situations can feel enormous.

None of that has prevented her from becoming an Australian athlete.

That matters.

It matters to Brittany, but it also matters to other young people with intellectual disability and neurodivergence who may grow up being told, directly or indirectly, about all the things they cannot do.

Brittany demonstrates that success does not have one shape.

You can need help in some parts of your life and be exceptional in another.

You can be painfully shy and still stand on an international sporting stage.

You can learn differently and still become an elite athlete.

And you can have an intellectual disability and still wear the green and gold.

Can you help get Brittany to Bangkok?

We would love Canberra, the Australian sporting community, and supporters from across the country to get behind Brittany as she prepares to wear the green and gold in Bangkok.

Every donation helps.

$10, $20, $50 or $100 may seem small against the cost of international competition, but together those contributions can make this opportunity possible.

If you are unable to donate, sharing Brittany’s fundraiser is just as valuable. Please send it to friends, family, workplaces, sporting clubs and anyone who believes Australian athletes with disability deserve the opportunity to compete on the world stage.

Brittany has already earned the right to wear the Green and Gold.

Now we need a little help getting her to Bangkok to wear it.

Thank you for supporting Brittany and the Australian Pearls. ⛹️⛹️⛹️