About Goalball

Goalball is a high speed, adrenaline pumping sport aimed at visually impaired people worldwide. However, it can be nationally played by anyone as all players have to wear blackout shades. Internationally there is a level of vision that you must be below to be eligible to play.

History

It was invented in 1946, by Sepp Reindle and Hanz Lorenzen in an attempt to help in the rehabilitation of blinded war veterans; it was first introduced to the world at the Toronto Olympics in 1976, and has been played at every Paralympics since.

The Game

Each game has two teams of 3 players. The aim of the game is to throw the ball as fast as possible along the ground to get it past the other team and into the 9m goal, and the other team dive across the court to block the shot. Each game is 20 minutes long split into 10 minute halves, in the half time the teams swap ends and play resumes as quickly as possible. The game has many different penalty offences, such as one player on a team taking 3 shots in a row, if a player commits a penalty then their two team mates leave the field of play and the offender faces one shot alone on court. The score can go up to 10 goals difference at which point a ‘mercy ruling’ is called to end the game.

Kit

All players on a team must wear blackout shades and identical kit with their number printed on the back and front of their shirt, which must be between 1 and 9. The style and design of the kit is open to the team, however long sleeves and tracksuit bottoms are advised.

International

The main international competitions are the IBSA European Championships, IBSA World Championships and the Paralympics.
 Some countries provide funding for Goalball to help their teams’ progress — unfortunately the UK is not one of these.

In the UK

Goalball in the United Kingdom is governed by British Blind Sport who  organise and referee competitions and provide a Goalball Leadership Award. One of the best known competitions in the UK is the Goalball Cup, which is spread over two days and normally has a high attendance. Within Hampshire and the surrounding area HI-VIS are trying to setup a regional league and some competitions, with an interest of getting more games for Hampshire and other nearby teams.

Paralympics 2012

In the 2012 Paralympics, Goalball will be featuring and is to be played in the Olympic Park Handball Arena from Thursday 30 August — Thursday 6 September, there will be 2 Gold medals with an estimated 120 (72 men, 48 women) athletes.