Goalball

Goalball player in action

Goalball is the world's most popular ball sport for people with visual impairments and has been a Paralympic since 1976 . The object of the game is to throw a 1250 g bell ball into the opponent's goal. The two teams, each consisting of three players, face each other on a 9 m × 18 m playing field. The gates are each 9 m wide and 1.3 m high.

Course of the game

matchfield

A game lasts 2 × 12 minutes. All players on the field wear opaque glasses to ensure equal opportunities. Up to four substitutions and time outs can be taken in a game. The hard rubber ball, inside of which there are bells for acoustic perception, must be thrown flat on the floor. If a team leads by ten goals in the course of the game, the game is ended immediately. A team consists of a maximum of six players.

In the course of the game there may be penalty throws, so-called "penalties". These are comparable to a penalty kick in football. For a throw, a player of the offending team must defend the 9 meter wide goal alone.

Criminal situations

Penalties can be awarded for the following criminal situations:

High ball	A player throws the ball so that it does not touch the ground in his own landing area.
Long ball	A player throws the ball so that it does not touch the ground in the neutral zone.
glasses	A player touches his dark glasses without asking the referee.
Illegal defense	A player fends off the ball and lies in the neutral third of the field.
Game delay	A player is not ready to play at the beginning or is reoriented by the officials during the game. Game delays by the companions.
Unsportsmanlike conduct	Can be punished by the referees with a penalty penalty or exclusion from the game.
10 seconds	A team needs more than 10 seconds from the first ball contact until the team's throw has crossed the center line.
Sounds	A player from the attacking team makes noise during the throw.
Coaching	The coach communicates with his players even though the game is not interrupted.

distribution

Goalball is the most popular ball sport for people with visual impairments worldwide. Due to the large number of countries playing goalball, Europe is divided into an A, B and C pool of at least ten teams each. The respective European championships take place every two years, in which the three best teams move up to the higher pool and the last three teams move down to the lower pool. The goalball world championships take place every four years. In addition, Goalball has been a Paralympic since 1976 and has been represented at all Paralympics since then.

history

This sport was developed by the Austrian Hans Lorenzen and the German Sepp Reindle for war invalids and played for the first time in 1946.

After being a demonstration sport in Heidelberg in 1972, Goalball was included in the Paralympic program at the 1976 Paralympic Games in Toronto . At first only competitions for men were held, from 1984 competitions for women were also added. In contrast to goalball, goalball is Paralympic because it is more widespread in the world and is also the older sport.

The first goalball world championship took place in Austria in 1978 . Here, too, only men's teams were initially played. Since the second World Championships in 1982, women's teams have also been taking part. Goalball World Championships are held every four years. Lithuania is the reigning Paralympic winner (2016) for the men. Brazil was crowned world champion in 2014 and Turkey became European champion in 2015. In the women's category, Japan won gold in London, the USA became world champions in 2014 and Turkey won the European championship in 2015.

Goalball in Germany

In Germany, Goalball is organized under the umbrella of the DBS and is mainly played in schools for the blind and clubs for people with visual impairments. The sports center is in Marburg . The only Paralympic base for goalball in Germany is located there. The current German record champion is SSG Blista Marburg e. V. Since 2014, the national title fights have been held in the Goalball Bundesliga . Eight teams fight for medals over five match days.

The German U19 championships are also held annually, mostly in autumn. Here the youth teams play for the U19 title. In addition, Goalball has been part of the spring finals at “Youth trains for Paralympics” in Berlin since 2013.

The German men's national team qualified for the Paralympics in Rio 2016. They are trained by Johannes Günther and Stefan Weil (both from Marburg).

The ladies are looked after by the Prokein couple (Fulda).

Paralympics

year	host	Paralympics men
		1st place	2nd place	3rd place
1976	Toronto ( Canada )	Austria	Germany	Denmark
1980	Arnhem ( Netherlands )	Germany	United States	Netherlands
1984	New York ( USA )	United States	Egypt	Yugoslavia
1988	Seoul ( South Korea )	Yugoslavia	United States	Egypt
1992	Barcelona ( Spain )	Italy	Finland	Egypt
1996	Atlanta ( USA )	Finland	Canada	Spain
2000	Sydney ( Australia )	Denmark	Lithuania	Sweden
2004	Athens ( Greece )	Denmark	Sweden	United States
2008	Beijing ( China )	People's Republic of China	Lithuania	Sweden
2012	London ( United Kingdom )	Finland	Brazil	Turkey
2016	Rio de Janeiro ( Brazil )	Lithuania	United States	Brazil
2020	Tokyo ( Japan )

year	host	Paralympics women
		1st place	2nd place	3rd place
1984	New York ( USA )	United States	Canada	Denmark
1988	Seoul ( South Korea )	Denmark	United States	Canada
1992	Barcelona ( Spain )	Finland	Denmark	Canada
1996	Atlanta ( USA )	Germany	Finland	United States
2000	Sydney ( Australia )	Canada	Spain	Sweden
2004	Athens ( Greece )	Canada	United States	Japan
2008	Beijing ( China )	United States	People's Republic of China	Denmark
2012	London ( United Kingdom )	Japan	People's Republic of China	Sweden
2016	Rio de Janeiro ( Brazil )	Turkey	People's Republic of China	United States
2020	Tokyo ( Japan )

Web links

Commons : Goalball  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Goalball Germany
• IBSA Goalball Committee on www.goalballnetwork.com