Image shows Samantha Gough stood at the EIS in Sheffield in front of the running track, holding her eye shadesThis week, we’re getting to know 5 more of our recently recruited Youth Forum members. Next up this week we are learning more about Samantha Gough!

  • Name – Samantha Gough
  • Age – 17
  • Goalball Club – Various / Composites

Tell us a bit about yourself?

Hi, my name is Samantha and I am from Scotland, anyone who knows me, knows I love cats! I have always loved sport and being active, growing up being visual impaired didn’t impact on my ability to have fun being active. My love for sport and being active has continued as my eyesight has reduced, even though my confidence plummeted, and I was excluded from PE at school. I found the best sporting opportunities came from being involved in disability sport.

How did you get into goalball?

I had the opportunity to try goalball for the first time at a ‘have a go’ session in Dundee in 2019 and fell in love with the sport. From there I attended a leadership course at The Royal National College for the Blind in Hereford with British Blind Sports, here I found how welcoming the VI community could be and new friendships were made.

What are you main hobbies and interests?

My hobbies are goalball, swimming, horse riding, dancing, and tandem cycling. My interests are music, painting and arts/crafts, and coaching goalball.

What is your biggest goal in life?

My goal is to be as good as I can be and hopefully compete in the Paralympics one day for swimming or goalball, or both!

We will be chatting to a member of the Youth Forum every weekday this week. Who will we be chatting to next? Come back tomorrow to find out!