A blind Hamilton man is on a mission to grow the sport of goalball, aided by a world-first inflatable goal developed by innovative sports gear company Packaworld International.

Steve Donnelly is the captain of Waikato Goalball Club and well known within the blind and low vision community for his sporting exploits as a New Zealand BlindCaps cricket player.

The 47-year old is keen to raise awareness of goalball – a popular sport at the Paralympics – but has struggled to introduce people to the sport because of a lack of local facilities with goals.

But that is about to change. Waikato Goalball Club received a boost on Saturday when they used the new Goalball Packagoals for the first time at one of their training sessions at Melville Community Hall in Hamilton, New Zealand.

The Paralympic sport of goalball has received a major boost with news Blind Sport New Zealand has purchased eight new portable goalball goals to bring the game to blind and low vision athletes around New Zealand.

The type of goals being purchased are new to the sport, having been recently developed by New Zealand company Packaworld and used internationally for the first time in a goalball exhibition match involving the Great Britain Men’s Goalball Team in England.

Known as Goalball Packagoals, the nine-metre-wide goals feature an inflatable yet highly stable design that is more portable and easier to store than traditional goalball goals made of steel or aluminium.

New Zealand’s highly successful blind lawn bowls mixed pair of David Stallard and Sue Curran were celebrated on Saturday night, alongside their directors Peter Blick and Ann Muir, at the 2018 Blind Sport New Zealand Sports Awards.

The group won the Packaworld Team of the Year Award in recognition of their dedication and strong performances at the Blind Lawn Bowls World Championships and 2018 Commonwealth Games.

The award, sponsored by Packaworld International, was one of eight awards presented during an awards dinner at the Grand Millennium Hotel in Auckland.

The Great Britain men’s team continued its preparation for the IBSA European B Championships, which take place in Poland later this month, by competing in an exhibition match using world-first inflatable goalball goals and barriers.

The match, played between members of the Great Britain squad and emerging talent within the sport, took place at the English Institute of Sport in Sheffield. The event was a celebration of Goalball UK’s recent Investor in Customers Silver Award and was a platform to raise awareness of the Paralympic sport.

Goalball UK chief executive Mark Winder said the event had been a great success, demonstrating the sport to people from a wide range of backgrounds.

Newly-designed portable goalball goals could inspire blind athletes and help the sport of goalball to grow across the United Kingdom thanks to a trial supported by Goalball UK.

The national governing body for goalball has been using the lightweight nine-metre-wide goals produced by Packaworld International at South Yorkshire Goalball Club to help players build skills and offer a real-game experience.

Goalball Packagoals inflate to nine metres wide, spanning the full width of the playing court, but deflate for transportation and storage.

Full-size inflatable rugby ‘Packaposts’ from Packaworld International stole the show at the USA Rugby National Development Summit, drawing attention from conference delegates and many top US coaches, including newly appointed USA Eagles Head Coach Gary Gold.

The Summit was held in Denver, Colorado from 19-21 January, with Packaworld CEO Peter Roberts attending to discuss the development of rugby in the USA and introduce the unique portable rugby posts to delegates.

“Rugby is growing quickly across the USA. But it’s a tricky sport to deliver to new regions and communities due to a lack of suitable arenas where people can play,” Mr Roberts said.

​A unique inflatable goal is travelling New Zealand with Blind Sport New Zealand as part of the ACC Paralympics New Zealand Open Days, showcasing the exciting blind sport of goalball in a way that wasn’t possible before.

Goalball is a sport in which teams of three players try to roll or bounce a 1.25kg ball with bells inside across an indoor court and into a nine-metre-wide goal. Opposing players try to block the ball from entering their net by diving. Blind and sighted players all wear blackout visors to create an equal playing field, relying on sound to identify where the ball is.

​​Blind Sport New Zealand National Manager Dan Shepherd said while goalball is a major Paralympic sport, growing participation has been tricky due to bulky equipment – an issue resolved with the advent of inflatable, portable Goalball Packagoals from New Zealand company Packaworld International.

An amazing innovation has the potential to grow the sport of goalball worldwide. The inflatable, portable Goalball Packagoal offers a sport hampered by cumbersome equipment  a new avenue to be easily transported and played in a wider variety of venues.

Former New Zealand Goalball representative Charles Tauhore says the inflatable Goalball Packagoal from Packaworld offers clear safety benefits for players, and has the potential to grow the sport worldwide.

Goalball was the first sport developed for blind and vision-impaired people. It originated as a rehabilitative sport for veterans who lost vision during World War II, and became an official Paralympic sport in 1976. It is played by sighted, low vision and fully blind people.