Goalball is an indoor sport, a little like soccer, designed for blind and sight-impaired athletes. The game ball is hard rubber, 3 1/2 pounds, and about the size of a basketball -- with jingle bells inside. Athletes, spectators and coaches must remain quiet, so the players can hear where the ball is.
At Eastwood Elementary School in Hillsboro, goalball players from around western Washington County gather once a week to practice.
Scott McCallum, vision services coordinator at Northwest Regional Education Service District, runs the goalball program for the service district. He and several other teachers for blind and visually impaired students take turns as coaches for the two high school-age teams.
The first order of business each practice is to mark the playing court -- the same size as a volleyball court -- with string and tape.
The players use the feel of the string under the tape to recognize where they are on the court.
With three on each side -- two wings and a center -- players take turns rolling the ball to the opposing side of the court to try to score a goal. The players on defense stretch themselves across the court trying to block the ball from going into the goal.
The fast-paced game is not for those unwilling to hit the floor and take the full brunt of an oncoming ball. Athletes wear padding to minimize bumps and bruises and goggles to block vision completely. That way, McCallum says, everyone is on an even playing field.Baker Prairie Middle School, 1859 S. Township Road. The tournament begins at 9:15 a.m.
The Education Service District organizes the tournament as a part of its contract to provide services to blind and visually impaired students statewide.
Middle school students from Baker Prairie will host teams from all over the state. Students in a disability-awareness class there will act as guides, line judges, statisticians and staff the team hospitality room, McCallum says.
The local Education Service District will take two coed high school teams to the tourney.
Goalball was invented after World War II by an Austrian, Hanz Lorenzen, and a German, Sepp Reindle. The game was designed to help in the rehabilitation of blinded war veterans.
In 1976, the sport was introduced at the Paralympic Games in Toronto. It's grown in popularity and is played in more than 100 countries.
McCallum says the sport brings the students together for social time. "It's a good chance for the kids to spend time together. They all go to different schools."
Two of the girls at a recent practice were all business, though.
Abbey Waranch, a senior at Hillsboro's Century High School, comes to play because she likes sports. "I love it. It's a lot of fun," she said, before running off to get fitted for a team jersey. Waranch also competes on her school swim team.
"I'm competitive," said Eliana Mason, who comes from a sports-oriented family. "With two brothers, I have to be competitive."
Mason attends the International School of Beaverton and will earn an International Baccalaureate diploma upon graduation. She plans to attend college to study psychology.
Mason and Waranch also play on a goalball team through Portland State University.
Coaches may not talk to their team during the game to let them know where the ball is headed. Despite the hush, the intensity is palpable. Is it hard to stay quiet?
"You get used to it," McCallum said.
-- Kathy Fuller