Our mission.  Goalball Australia will provide national governance and globally competitive pathways for the sport of goalball in Australia. 

Our vision.  To put goalball in the hearts and minds of all Australians and to be recognised as the blind and vision-impaired sport of choice in Australia.  We want to be visible within the Australian community and grow interest in this Paralympic sport for participation and opportunities whether as an athlete or official. 

What is goalball?

We are the premiere and premier team sport for athletes with a vision impairment, with the pinnacle of the Paralympic Games. 

Goalball is the exciting team sport played competitively by athletes with vision impairment. The sport was created in 1946 after World War II by Austrian, Hanz Lorenzen, and German, Sepp Reindle, in an effort to rehabilitate and keep veterans with blindness and low vision active. Shortly after the sport originated in Europe, goalball was inaugurated to the world stage during the 1976 Paralympic Games in Toronto, Canada and has been showcased at the event following its inaguration. The sport has now been announced as a 2024 Paralympic Games sport for Paris.

Goalball's distinctive competition atmosphere sets it apart from any other sporting experience. The games are required to be kept silent as three players on each team, who are completely blindfolded by 'blackout' eyeshades, use their entire body to block a 1.25 kg audible ball from making it into the opponents goal. Each goal is 1.3 metres in height and span the entireity of the back court – think of it as the opposite of dodgeball. This intense game allows players of all degrees of vision to participate at an equal level together. Players are then able to orientate themselves to the 18 x 9 metre court through tactile line markings. Players must react instantly to the sound of the bells inside the ball that help the players distinguish where the opposition has thrown it from. The duration of a goalball game lasts for two 12-minute periods with a three-minute half time break, with the average game lasting around 50 minutes.