The History of NSW Goalball

At NSW Goalball we are the proud blues, representing our amazing sport of Goalball that is shared across Australia and Internationally. The history of NSW Goalball runs strong! We are a caring and supportive, volunteer-run organisation that has always promoted the participation of people with blindness and low vision in team sports!

The history of goalball in NSW began in 1980 with key figures such as Terry Kenaghan being heavily involved in bringing the sport to the country. Terry's daughter, Georgina, soon went on to head coach the Australian Women's Goalball team, The Aussie Belles, at the 2012 London Paralympic Games.

Georgina Kenaghan - former Head Coach of the Aussie Belles Women's Team - 2012

NSW competed their first Men's and Women's teams at the first Australian Goalball Championships in 1981 held in Sydney, both teams coming away with a gold medal! NSW has always been one of the top teams in every division of the Australian Goalball Championships each year, often pushing the other statesfor medal placement and we are proud to have many of our state players represent at a national level. 

Another major figure of NSW Goalball was Dimitrios Tsoukalidis, a.k.a. Dimi or Jim.
In 1999 in the lead-up to Sydney 2000, the State Government established an Olympic/Paralympic employment scheme where athletes were employed part-time and also trained for the Games. Jim's office ended up hosting a goalball player, current NSW Men's player, Troy King. Of course he had to ask Troy, "What's goalball?" so Troy suggested coming out to Blacktown to watch! After watching a couple of games, someone asked Jim for his thoughts. After saying it was interesting, he was invited to referee a couple of games. And so it began!
Later secretary and then president of NSW Goalball, when it was in the difficult period when most senior players and committee members left the game after the Sydney Paralympics. He was honoured to be awarded life membership at the NSWGB AGM in 2015.

     

Jim Tsoukalidis:
"Thank you to the players and coaches I have officiated and formed friendships with, particularly the Belles who I have enjoyed helping on various training camps and the junior players who are developing their game and moving up through the ranks. I hope to continue to watch your progress and assist by doing some specialised coaching and producing written guides such as my two-page summary of rules and procedures, "Forty-one ways a coach can lose a goalball game (by not knowing the rules)" and the upcoming "Zen and the art of goalball penalties".

To learn more of the history of Goalball - Check out the Goalball Australia Website

History of Australian Goalball