The GOALBALL matches in these Paralympic Games were a huge success, with all the tickets sold out for each day of the competition. Georgia State University was the venue chosen for this event between August 17th and 23rd, with a total of 78 matches being played. Twelve men's teams and eight women's teams took part in the competition, each comprising six players, thus forming a total of 72 men and 48 women participants.

The strength of these Championships was how evenly matched the teams were, most noteworthy being the swiftness, strength and throwing ability of the players. The top scorers in the men's competition were:

MARIO CARON from Canada and Jordi Mendoza from Spain with 23 goals each, and the Australian ROBERT CRESTANI and the Italian RAULO MARTINI with 18. As for the women, BEGOÑA REDAL from Spain finished with an impressive 17 goals, followed by the American girl PATTI EGENSTEINER-ASBURY with 13.

The future for GOALBALL looks brighter every year. There are now over 100 certified referees, 66 nations practising this sport and numerous countries requesting information on the following : REFEREES CLINICS, SPORTS DEVELOPMENT, CALENDARS, TOURNAMENT REGULATIONS AND EQUIPMENT.

The GOALBALL sub-committee consists of 5 members who meet twice a year, in spring and in the autumn.

At this time, GOALBALL has the particular characteristic of being the only team sport for the blind which is played in the Paralympic Games.

By: Stephen Kearney.
Chairman IBSA Goalball Subcommittee