Visually impaired competitors score in goalball tourney

SALT LAKE CITY — Paula Ward repeatedly sprawled out on the gymnasium floor, stretching her arms and legs to lengthen her body to block the opposing team's shots, making numerous spectacular saves.

What made the shots spectacular?

Ward, who is entering her third year of goalball play, repeatedly blocked shots with no help from her eyes, but rather by listening to the three bells inside of the ball as it rolled closer.

Ward and her teammates made up some of the approximately 70 blind and visually impaired youth from across Utah who participated in Friday's statewide goalball tournament.

Goalball, which is a sport in the Paralympics, is played in a gymnasium, with three members of each team on the court at a time. The court is outlined in raised tape, allowing players to quickly get into offensive or defensive positions. The two teams alternate taking shots on the other team's goal, a netted goal similar to a soccer goal, except it runs the width of the court. Shots are taken by rolling a weighted rubber ball with bells inside toward the other team's goal.

The players— both male and female, who are mixed on the teams — wore ski goggles with lenses that had been blacked out, assuring there were no advantages to those with more visual abilities. Each player was also outfitted in pads because much of the players' time is spent lying on the gym floor.

To block incoming shots, the defending players lay their bodies parallel to the goal and slide one way or another depending on where they hear the ball. If they are successful in their defense, the ball hits them and they then pick it up and roll it back in an attempt to score.

Ward and her teammates on the Smash Team took home the gold on Friday, winning by a 5-3 margin. Ward said she wasn't expecting it, but she described the experience as "pretty awesome."

But it's not winning that makes goalball so great for Ward.

"I like meeting all the people and the friends I have made," Ward said.

Making friends and learning about teamwork is why Jalayne Engberg, an International Blind Sports Association referee and teacher in the Alpine School District, has actively worked to encourage goalball in Utah.

"This is one of the only sports that the visually impaired can play and learn how to be a team," Engberg said. "They get to learn all those things that every other kid has to learn about team sports."