Goalball is a sport for people who are blind, meaning they cannot see. It is played by men and women. Each team has six people on it. Three people play on each team at one time.[1] A team throws the ball at a goal behind the people on the other team. They get a point if the ball goes in the goal. The ball has a bell in it. Players cannot see the ball, but they can hear the bell. They use their body to stop the ball. It is governed by the International Blind Sports Federation, and it is a sport in the Paralympic Games.
Goalball players wear blindfolds. This is because some players can not see at all (they are totally blind), and some other players can still see a little bit. When players wear blindfolds, none of the players can see anything. This makes it fair for all the players.[2]
History
Goalball was invented in 1946 by Hanz Lorenzen and Sepp Reindle. They invented it to help veterans who became blind because of World War II.[3]