The portable goals helping goalball to grow in Germany

A disability sports club in north-east Germany is using Goalball Packagoals to create opportunities for blind and visually impaired athletes at schools and public events.
 
The portability of the inflatable goals is making it easy for the Greifswalder Sportgemeinschaft 01 e.V. (GSG01) goalball section, known as the Greifswald Pikes, to bring goalball to people who haven’t had the opportunity to experience the joy of the Paralympic sport in the past.

​They held a goalball open training day in Greifswald on 2 April as part of ‘Catching up after Corona’ – a programme set up by the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth to step-up schooling and activities people have missed out on during the pandemic.

Heiko Prinz, the goalball section chief and head coach at GSG01, says the open day provided an opportunity for people of all ages with visual impairments to participate in various beginner goalball exercises. Attendees at the event also had the opportunity to chat with experienced athletes about the many benefits of getting involved in parasports.
 
The event was a success and Heiko expects to see a few new faces at upcoming training group sessions. He also praised the new inflatable Goalball Packagoals, which were used by GSG01 for the first time at the event.
 
“The goals are easy and quick to set up and particularly useful for working with children and beginner goalball players, as well as for use in a variety of locations outside of the gym where most of our programmes have been held in the past,” he says.
 
Heiko plans to roll out a Goalball programme to schools in Greifswald, with the aim of recruiting five schools as a ‘test-run’ before expanding further.
 
Packaworld is supporting Heiko’s ambitious plan as one of the programme’s partners. German schools that sign up to the programme will be offered free delivery on Goalball Packagoal purchases.
 
Packaworld chief executive Peter Roberts says the team is delighted to help drive the growth of goalball in Germany.
 
“One of the beauties of goalball is that people with and without visual impairments can play together on the same court and be on equal footing, as all players must wear blackout goggles,” he says.
 
“Through Heiko’s vision, young people who might not otherwise have had the chance will get to experience the joy and benefits of sport.”