Each Thursday we want to put the spotlight on a person involved with goalball – from players, officials to coaches, or anyone!
We want to use our online platforms so the Goalball Family can get to know each other a bit better ahead of getting back on the court and playing our sport again!
This week we caught up with Charlie Woodhead!
What club do you play for or coach?
I play for and coach Scarborough Panthers.
How did you discover goalball?
I used to attend local community sessions of sport for visually impaired people and got introduced to goalball then. A few years later me and a few friends founded our first local team, not knowing it was a national thing, and haven’t looked back since!
Is there a particular song, artist or genre that you listen to before a tournament to get in the mood? Or anything you’re loving at the moment?
I normally love anything with a bit of piano to it that is relaxing, though relaxing doesn’t help me get ready to be fit so it’d have to be something with a bit of a beat to it. I find ‘I AM’ by Club Yoko a good paced song for my lockdown walks! Failing that, some upbeat Eurovision tunes are always a good call!
Do you have any pre-game superstitions or rituals?
Not really. The thing I love most about goalball is how friendly we are, even within our rivalries. I always like to introduce myself to new people before and after we play and get to know each other off court too!
Do you have a favourite post-match meal?
You can’t go wrong with TGI Fridays, or a good Italian failing that!
Which goalball player do you admire the most and why?
I might be a bit biased as one of their coaches, but it has to be Stuart and Chelsea Hudson for me. I’ve been playing goalball for nearly 9 years now and have met many amazing people, but ever since we started them off when they were a fraction of my height, to now (where I’m a fraction of their height!) they have progressed so so far and gone from training in a hall in Scarborough to representing the country; can’t ask for more than that in terms of progress!
Outside of goalball, what other hobbies/sports do you do?
Anyone who knows me knows my entire life is basically trains! I live, love and work all things trains so it’s definitely my hobby as well as my career. And what comes with that is a love for travel, and it’s a great way to get to see many people I meet through goalball from all around the country!
Finally, what place, anywhere in the world, is on your bucket list to visit and why?
I am not a big ‘going abroad’ person – like to stick to what I know – but I’ve never been to Germany so that’d be a good place to tick off!
