Blind Spot pumps up blind awareness with help from Goalball Packagoals

A community organisation on a mission to improve understanding of how it feels to be blind has staged a unique goalball event for Girl Scouts at Camp Prairie Schooner in Kansas City.

Made possible by new portable goalball goals, the event was one of many ‘immersion experiences’ Blind Spot runs to enable sighted people to experience the world of the blind.

It was also the first time the scouts taking part had the opportunity to enjoy goalball – a Paralympic sport that puts those with and without sight on an equal footing because all players wear blackout goggles and pick up the position of the ball using only their ears.

Blind Spot is the brainchild of Nicole Carr, whose son Mac is totally blind. She set up the organisation after realising she had a lot of gaps in knowledge, or ‘blind spots’, when it came to supporting Mac in a sighted world.

Carr said every person who is blind or visually impaired should have the opportunity to try out new activities but opportunities were sometimes limited and it could be harder for those with visual impairments to run them.

“Blind Spot creates understanding empathetically through immersion experiences. These opportunities provide individuals with sight to temporarily remove sight and gain a glimpse into the world of those with visual impairment.”

The event at Camp Prairie Schooner in June was run with Kansas State School for the Blind to increase awareness of the challenges visually diverse people face through the thrill of goalball.

Unlike traditional goalball goals made of aluminium, Packaworld’s inflatable Goalball Packagoals are lightweight and can be easily deflated and transported. That makes it easier for organisations like Blind Spot to take them on the road for events.

“Ease of use, portability and storability and quick set-up time was an instant sell for us with the Goalball Packagoals. They are absolutely perfect,” Carr said.

Following the success of the Camp Prairie Schooner event, Carr plans to deploy the Packagoals for another goalball event as well as hosting several school-based immersion experiences and putting on a fund-raising gala to raise the profile of Blind Spot.

Blind Spot will also loan the Goalball Packagoals to a local state school for the blind and a local university girls’ soccer team so they can learn to play and participate in future community goalball events.

Packaworld Chief Executive Peter Roberts said Blind Spot’s creative approach to inclusivity and raising awareness of the challenges faced by those with vision impairments was inspiring.

“Blind Spot’s mission is powerful and it’s amazing to see how many people its events are reaching. We are all about bringing people together through the joy of sport and we’re very pleased that our Packagoals are playing a part in Blind Spot’s immersion events.”

Since its establishment in 2021, Blind Spot has run a wide range of different immersion events, in addition to the recent goalball experiences. These range from blind whiskey tasting to blind climbing experiences, with some attracting as many as 300 people.

“We love getting creative with our events and expanding our reach to new audiences all the time … we look forward to creating more opportunities for the sighted to learn to be better friends to those who are visually impaired. Thank you Packaworld for being a part of this with us,” Carr said.