Goalball started in Austria in 1946 thanks to the efforts of the German Sepp Reindle and Austrian Hanz Lorenzen to apply novel methods of rehabilitation for World War II blind veterans. Very soon it developed into an exciting and competitive sport. In Germany and Austria Goalball games were often organised between local teams. It was introduced for the first time as a demonstration sport during 1976 Paralympic Games in Toronto with the participation of men’s teams from seven countries. In 1978 the first Goalball World Championships was held in Austria. Goalball was officially included in the Paralympic Games competition programme in 1980 in Arnhem, the Netherlands.

Ever since 1982, Goalball has been under the authority of the International Blind Sports Federation (IBSA) and is managed by the IBSA Goalball Subcommittee. IBSA was founded in Paris in 1981 with the purpose of developing and promoting sports activities for blind and visually impaired athletes. IBSA is an official member of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC), which leads the Paralympic Movement.

Goalball is considered to be one of the most popular Paralympic sports and it is played in more than 112 countries around the world.

In Greece, Goalball was introduced in June 2001 in Thessaloniki, where it was played by the blind athletes sports clubs “Hephaestus” and “Pyrsos”.

Igrišče

The court is a 18 x 9 m rectangle. Starting from the final lines, where the goalposts are placed, a 9 x 3 m team area and a 9 x 3 m landing area for each team is marked. The remaining 9 x 6 m area, between the two landing areas, is called neutral area, which is divided in two parts by the Centre Line. With the exception of the final lines, all markings are tactile to enable the players’ orientation. This includes the players’ position and orientation lines in each team area. Goalposts have a height and length of 1.3 m and 9 m respectively.

Tekma

Goalball is played by both men and women teams. Each team consists of three players and three substitutes. Teams are entitled three 45 sec time outs and a maximum of three substitutions during regular time of a game. During overtime each team is entitled to one extra time out and substitution.

Klasifikacija

Players must be classified in the Β1, Β2 or Β3 classes. These are competition classes and are based on the level of visual acuity and visual field of the athletes. B1 class athletes have total absence of perception of the light in both eyes, or some perception of the light but with inability to recognise the form of a hand at any distance and in any direction. B2 class athletes have the ability to recognise the form of a hand to a visual acuity of 2/60. B3 class athletes have the ability to recognise the form of a hand to a visual acuity of 2 - 6/60.
To ensure equal terms during the contest, all players are obliged to use eyeshades to ban all access of light

The aim for each team is to roll the ball by hand to the opposite side and score a goal while the players of the opponent team try to block the ball with any part of their body. Winner is the team to score more goals.

A game consists of two halves of ten minutes each with 3 minute break in between. In case of a tie, after the end of the regular time, two additional halves of 3 minutes each are played. If the tie still exists after the end of the overtime, free throws are executed, the number of which is equal to the minimum number of the registered players.

During the game, the noise bells of the ball help the players to orient themselves inside the court. For this reason, spectators must keep absolute silence and clap only when goals are scored or after the end of each half.

Prekinitve

The ball is turned over to the defending team in the following cases:

	When the ball goes out of bounds over the sideline, in the process of passing the ball between team members. This rule also applies when the ball hits an object above the court (Pass out)
	When the throwing player doesn’t have any part of his body touching the court at the time of release of the ball (Step over)
	When a player throws the ball before the referee has given the “play-command” (Premature throw)
	When the ball is blocked by a defensive player and rebounds over the centre line in the neutral area. This rule also applies if the ball hits a goal post or cross bar and rolls back over the centre line (Ball over).

Kazni

There are two types of penalties: personal and team penalties. In both cases, only one player remains on the court to defend the penalty throw. In the case of a personal penalty, the player who committed the penalty remains on the court. In the case of a team penalty, the player who made the last recorded throw before the penalty was awarded is the one to remain on the court.

Igralec je kaznovan v naslednih primerih:

Ekipa je kaznovana v naslednjih primerih:

Senčniki za oči

During the game, players are obligated to wear eyeshades to cover their eyes, which ban all access of light. The referees prior to the start of each game inspect these eyeshades.

Žoga

The ball used for the game is a 1,250 gram ball with 8 holes and noise bells which enable the players to track the direction of the ball. The circumference of the ball is approximately 76 cm. The material is rubber according to the specification of the IBSA Sport Technical Committee.

International level Goalball teams

The men’s teams of Sweden, Lithuania and Slovenia have distinguished themselves by gaining the gold, the silver and the bronze medals respectively during the 2002 World Goalball Championships that were held in September 2002 in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil. The women’s teams of USA, Canada and Netherlands won the gold, the silver and the bronze medals respectively during the same tournament.

At the 2000 Paralympic Games in Sydney, the men’s teams of Denmark, Lithuania and Sweden won the gold, silver and bronze medal respectively. In the women’s competition the teams of Canada, Spain and Sweden won the gold, silver and bronze medal respectively. 

Greek teams

In Greece Goalball was introduced in June 2001 by the blind athletes sports clubs “Hephaestus” and “Pyrsos”. The first official Greek participation abroad was in December 2002 in Madrid during the International Invitational Tournament by the men’s and women’s teams of “Hephaestus”.