News & Press

Great Britain's Adam Knott was top scorer with 30 goals at the Goalball Cup that took place in Birmingham on May 11th and 12th. Sweden's Mikael Akerberg finished 2nd with 25 goals whilst Denmark's Frederik Baugh finished 3rd with 24 goals.

Michelle Young is helping set up the new Goalball Club in Glasgow. She recently went along to a West Midlands training session to try the sport, and this is what she thought:

On Saturday 20th July, Medway Park Goalball Club are holding a Development Day and Friendly Tournament. Individuals and clubs are invited to attend. For more information Click Here and for a booking form Click Here.

Goalball UK had a busy weekend in Birmingham (April 27th and 28th). Firstly, on Saturday, over 50 players attended a Talent ID Day. Four sessions were held throughout the day led by GB Men's Head Coach Knut Kursawe with support from some of the current members of the GB squad. Then on Sunday over 20 coaches with a range of experience came together from clubs around the country to share technical and tactical skills. 

The 2nd round of the inaugural Yorkshire League took place at York St John University on Saturday 6th April. Twelve teams took part, 4 at each level, with the respective winners as follows:

Elite: York

Intermediate: West Yorkshire

Novice: Hull

The 3rd round is scheduled for Saturday 25th May (venue tbc).

Goalball UK won the 'NGB of the Year' award at the Federation of Disability Sports Organisations (FDSO) annual dinner held in Bradford on Friday 22nd March.

The award was presented in recognition of the development work that has taken place in Yorkshire during 2012. Specific reference was made to the 5 competitive clubs in the region and their respective successes in the National League, plus the launch of the Yorkshire League; the 'Masterclass' programme for players and coaches delivered in partnership with York St John University; and the ever increasing number of officials.

The strength in depth of the 'White Rose' workforce was demonstrated at the Paralympic Games where an incredible 13 of the 15 National Technical Officials (and 2 of the 16 International Technical Officials) were either from or had links to goalball in Yorkshire, as well as the Competition Manager and Officials Services Team Leader. There were also numerous volunteers from the region. Much of this was as a direct result of the Legacy Programme following the 2010 World Championships that were held in Sheffield. 

UK Sport

The inspirational Paralympics performance of Great Britain women’s Goalball team has helped win the sport major backing for Rio 2016.

The £1 million boost will help the squad go for gold after coming agonizingly close to a medal in London.

The UK Sport investment is a reward for an outstanding 2012, which saw the team rise from 11^th in Europe to 6^th at the Paralympics, only missing out on the medal matches on an extra time golden goal.

“We are delighted with the award which shows UK Sport’s appreciation of what we’ve achieved and our ambitious targets,” said Goalball UK chief executive Mike Reilly.

“The athletes, coaches and support staff did a fantastic job getting to London and the team became crowd favourites in the Copper Box as they took on the world. The girls came so close but we are now working towards a medal in Rio and it is great to have this backing.”

Goalball was the second best performing women’s team sport across the Olympics and Paralympics with results only bettered by the hockey squad which won bronze. Out of 17 team sports, Goalball was one of only three that finished in the top two of their group games.

The women beat European champions Denmark 5-0 and Brazil 3-1 in the Paralympics group stage and only lost to bronze medalists Sweden in extra time in the Quarter Finals.

“It was a brilliant squad performance and we are committed to driving forward to Rio. The success has also encouraged new people to try Goalball and the influx of new players will increase the sport’s long term potential,” added Reilly.

Men’s Goalball is also on the way up with its young squad – featuring three talented teenagers – highlighted for future glory. It is growing fast and funding could come on stream to help towards future games including 2020.

“The funding criteria did not allow us to bid for support for men’s Goalball this time round but UK Sport has said that the door is not closed,” said Reilly. “There is a lot of talent coming through and we will support them in other ways such as sponsorship and fund-raising.

“These are exciting times for Goalball which has made great strides over the last ten months. The success of the Paralympics has made us hungry for medals and even more determined to grow the sport at grass-roots level.”

Sport England

Goalball UK has received the award of £750k from sport England. 200k of the investment is aimed at the development of talent within England. The investment provides us with a great opportunity to develop the foundations of the sport including clubs, officials and coaches.

Sport England’s Director of Sport, Lisa O’Keefe, said: “Goalball has a good opportunity to achieve steady growth by maintaining the right balance between building the supply of coaches and officials, and attracting people to the sport. We regard our talent funding as a long-term investment in the future of this exciting Paralympic sport.

On Saturday 9^th February over 20 players from Nottingham Sherriff’s, West Yorkshire, South Yorkshire, Hull, Lynx (Louth) and Birmingham Goalball Clubs met in Nottingham for a Novices Development Day.

The day was broken down in to two different sections, with a skills and drills session in the morning and a friendly round robin competition in the afternoon. 

The aim of the day was to provide new players with the opportunity to get more familiar with goalball, have some fun, meet other new players and prepare themselves for the up and coming tournament in York, in March.

Coaches, volunteers and intermediate players, from all of the clubs also came along to support the event, making it a worthwhile day for everyone involved.

Sadly the day was cut short due a power cut at the venue but everyone enjoyed day and players went away feeling they had developed new skills to put into practice at training and future tournaments.

A big thank you to all the clubs and coaches that supported the event.