FSDB Welcomes High School Teams for National Goalball Championships
Posted: 11/18/2011 in Athletics
PRESS RELEASE
ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. (Nov. 18, 2011) – The Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind is hosting the U.S. Association of Blind Athletes National High School Goalball Championships on its campus Dec. 1 at 5:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m., Dec. 2 at 8 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. and Dec. 3 at 8 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Thirteen boys teams and 11 girls teams from across the nation will compete for the national title.
This event is open to the public and admission is free. Visitors can enter the campus off of North San Marco Avenue. The girls’ tournament is held at the Copeland Recreation and Fitness Center for the Blind and the boys’ tournament in Settles Gym. For those not able to attend, the tournaments will be streamed live to the public: FSDB-boys division and FSDB-girls division.
The Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind’s boys’ and girls’ goalball teams are also competing for the national title. The boys’ team has won the national title in 1992, 1995, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2004 and 2008. The girls’ team has won the national title in 1995, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2007, 2008, 2009 and most recently, the 2011 Eastern Athletic Association for the Blind.
Goalball was developed in 1946 in an effort to help in the rehabilitation of visually impaired World War II veterans. The team sport, designed for blind athletes, evolved into a competitive game and fully became a part of the Paralympics during the 1980 Summer Paralympics in Arnhem, Netherlands. Participants compete in teams of three and throw a ball with bells in it into the opponent’s goal. The players judge the position and movement of the ball from the sounds of the bells in the ball.
