WHAT IS GOALBALL?
Goalball is a team sport designed
specifically for athletes with a vision impairment. Participants compete in teams of three, and try to throw a
ball that has bells embedded in it into the opponents' goal. The ball is
thrown by hand and never kicked. Using ear-hand coordination, originating as a
rehabilitation exercise.
Goalball is a sport played
at the Paralympic Games. During the
Games, ten male teams and ten female teams are eligible to compete following
various selection requirements.
Played indoors, usually on a volleyball court, games consist of twelve-minute
halves (formerly ten-minute halves). Teams alternate throwing or
rolling the ball from one end of the playing area to the other, and players
remain in the area of their own goal in both defence and attack. Players must
use the sound of the bell to judge the position and movement of the ball. Eyeshades allow partially sighted players to
compete on an equal footing with blind players Eyepatches may be worn under
eyeshades to ensure complete coverage of the eye, and prevent any vision should
the eyeshades become dislodged.
GOALBALL COURT AND BALL
Goalball rules require the field of play to be 18 metres long by
9 metres wide.
Goals are as wide as the pitch.
The court is divided into six even sections:3x9 metres. At
either end, just in front of the goal, is the team area. Beyond that is each
team's landing zone. The middle two sections are collectively referred to as
the neutral zone.
The lines of the court are made by placing tape over lengths of
twine. This makes the line both visual (for officials) and tactile
(for players). The team area and landing zone, including the boundary, goal
lines and high-ball lines, are always marked in this way. Furthermore, the
team area has six hash marks (three at the front, one on either side, and
one on the goal line) to assist with player orientation.
The ball weighs 1.25 kilograms (2.8 lb) and has
eight holes and contains several noise bells.
GOALBALL PLAYERS AND POSITIONS
Each team has three players on
the court at a time, with one to three substitute players on the bench.
There are three standard positions to
play. Players, while there is typically no official designation, often have a
position they are best at or prefer, though some players will play any of the
three.
The centre player is the player most
responsible for defence. They typically line up at the centre hash-mark at
the front of the team area, though there are various defensive arrangements.
The centre player is the most defensive position simply because they
must be able to move both to the left and right to defend. They are also
typically the defensive coordinator, as they can more accurately determine
which opposing player has the ball due to being square to the opposing team.
The left and right wings generally line up at
the end of the hash marks coming off of the respective sidelines. Their main
defensive responsibilities are keeping the ball out of either corner of the
goal, though they also defend some towards the centre. Typically, the wings
are the main offence, allowing the centre player to reserve their energy
for defence, while they attempt to score. This is not to say that the centre
player is not also an offensive threat, just that they generally are more
focused on keeping the ball out of their own net than putting it into the
opponents'.
SCORING
A goal is
one point and is scored when the ball completely crosses the goal line. The
team with the higher score at the end of regulation time is the winner. If regulation
results in a tie, two three-minute overtime periods are played, for a golden goal (first
goal concludes the game). If no goal scored during overtime, penalty throws and
sudden death penalty throws are taken. When a maximum goal difference of ten
is reached, a mercy is called and the leading team is
declared the winner.
ATTACKING
To
score, a player must roll or bounce the ball down the length of the court, past
the opposing defenders, and into the opponents' goal. Typically, the player
with the ball will stand, orient themselves using the tactile lines, sounds
from teammates, and/or the crossbar of their own goal.
To score a valid goal, the ball must hit in the player's own
landing zone, and anywhere in the neutral zone
DIFFERENT GOALBALL THROWS
A. Underarm Throw: the
ball is thrown downwards and forward, and may or may not involve a sight turn of
the body.
B. Side Throw: with the
ball held either side, the arms are moving back and forward to impulse the
ball. On the forward swing, the forward hand is released and the near hand
pushes the ball.
C. Rolling Forward Throw: place
the ball just forward of the feet. Then, bend down and pus hit forward to roll.
A B C
DEFENDING
The defending players stay within the team area, generally in
somewhat staggered positions to avoid collisions. When they hear the other team
throw the ball, they 'lay out', that is slide on their hips and stretch their
arms above their heads and extend their legs in order to cover as much distance
as possible. The objective is simply to keep the ball from getting past with
whatever part of the body the player can get in front of it.
