Students Support National Goalball Finals

Three second-year students from the Sport, Coaching and Physical Education degree course at Bishop Grosseteste University (BGU) volunteered to assist in the running of the Goalball UK 'intermediate finals'.

Nathan Dowe, Jessica Machin and Laura Smith, along with their course lecturer Luke Liddle, travelled to the English Institute of Sport, in Sheffield on Saturday 18th May to support the tournament. The morning was spent setting up two goalball pitches ready for the competitors to start play at 10am before providing continued support to the organisers throughout the day.

Following the event course lecturer Luke was full of praise for the students’ effort and enthusiasm:

“Nathan, Jessica and Laura were a credit to BGU and all involved thoroughly enjoyed helping the event organisers produce an exceptional day of fierce and fair competition.”

Goalball is a game played by two teams of three players with a maximum of three substitutions on each team. It is open to both male and female visually impaired athletes, and sighted players can also play domestically.

The object of the game is to score a goal by bowling the ball along the floor so that it crosses the goal line of the opposing team. The defending team has to prevent the ball going in to their goal by stopping it while remaining in their team area. They must then try to control the ball and attack by bowling the ball back again thereby trying to score in the other goal.

Originally developed by Hanz Lorenzen (Austria) and Sepp Reindl (Germany) in 1946, as a rehabilitation programme for visually impaired World War II veterans, Goalball has swiftly grown in popularity and recognition and became an official part of the Paralympic movement in 1980.

If you are interested in pursuing a future in sports education and coaching you can find more information about Sport courses at BGU on our website, by contacting our Enquiries Team or by joining us on one of our Open Days.