If you're reading this you probably don't play goalball

So we were looking at the schedule of Good Luck Beijing events – those are athletic events taking place in Olympic venues in the run-up to next year – and we noticed a peculiar event on September 13-16: International Goalball Tournament.

Our first thought was to make a knee-jerk Chinglish joke (we read a lot of China Daily here) – perhaps this was really a handball tournament? BUT THE JOKE WAS ON US. Goalball is an internationally-recognized Paralympic sport for the visually impaired, invented immediately after WWII to rehabilitate blind veterans, first incorporated into the Paralympics at Toronto 1976, and loads of fun!

Really, this looks pretty cool. Using a ball about the size of a basketball with bells embedded in it, teams of three players attempt to roll the ball into the opponent’s goal. The court is inside, about the size of a volleyball court, with the goal as wide as the court. See a YouTube video of a game here. The game is fast-moving, played in two ten-minute halves, and requires complete silence from all spectators.

As players may have varying levels of visual impairment, all players wear shades to block out light and ensure an even playing field (they look like blacked-out ski goggles with padding).

Goalball is regulated by the International Blind Sports Federation (IBSF), which you may also be interested to know sets the rules for such sports as blind Alpine Skiing, Shooting, Torball and Showdown.

In the meanwhile, check out the calendar of Good Luck Beijing events http://www.goodluckbeijing.com.cn/en/news/bu/2007-03-11/2642.html (also in September: Modern Pentathlon World Cup Final, Beijing BG Triathlon World Cup, and an International Mountain Bike Invitational).

Links and Sources
Wikipedia: Goalball
Goodluck Beijing: Calendar of sporting events
Paralympic.org: Goalball
YouTube video, in Dutch (still looks cool, though): Goalball - Man Bijt Hond
International Blind Sports Federation (IBSF)