Hello, and welcome to the official Goalball site for Australia. This site is intended to keep everyone up-to-date with Goalball events in Australia. If you're a beginner, or

if you're looking to get involved, keep reading!

What is Goalball?

Goalball is a sport that was devised in Europe. It is the only team sport played at the Paralympic level by vision impaired people; and until recently internationally, cricket held its inaugural world cup last year.

Goalball is a three-on-three competition sport played on indoors primarily by blind and vision impaired athletes. Games are of two ten minute halves, and are  competitive and exciting to watch. Two teams play at each end of the 18x9 metre court (the same court size as a volley ball court). There are goals at both ends of the court covering the complete 9 metres in width and they are 1.3 metres high. Players are blindfolded with a blackened out ski masks to make the game fair, and to prevent any advantage to players with some sight.

The object is to throw the 1.25kg ball past the opposing team and into their goal. But, now you're probably asking yourself, "how do the players know where the ball is if they're blind and blindfolded?"

The answer is that the ball has bells inside that allow the players to hear it. When they hear the ball coming towards them, they dive, or lunge sideways, towards it to block and stop it with their body, arms and legs. If all three players miss the ball or if it bounces over them and it goes past the goal line, it is a goal. The team with the most goals wins the game. There are usually several games in a typical tournament. There is string taped to the court floor on playing lines in the Team Areas, that the players use to orient themselves to where they are on the court.

A project that is underway at the moment in New South Wales is the exciting SCHOOLS GOALBALL project! After an exciting and positive first semester planning is underway to extend this project for even more schools.

Schools Goalball is being organised and supported by the NSW Goalball Association Inc'. the NSW Department of Sport & Recreation, the NSW Department of Education , the NSW Sports Federation Inc'. and the Primary Club.

SCHOOL GOALBALL will involve a number of teams of both sighted and vision impaired school students, competing and representing their schools in competition against other schools playing Junior Goalball, a modified version of Goalball that is exciting and safe to play for school children.

(Click here for information about Junior or Schools Goalball)

Click on one of the links below to see a video of exciting International Goalball play.

Click here to see a Video of Australian Teams playing in World Goalball Championships 2006

 Click Here for Video Link to Beijing Goalball Test Competition 2007

If you're interested in More Information, please click on one of the categories in the below menu.