For people whose vision is impaired, goalball does something that no words or examples can explain; it shows people what it is like to be visually impaired, in the form of a game.

Goalball is one of the few sports that creates a level playing field for all athletes.

This sport is slowly being introduced at Central with tournments, and as an intramural sport come winter quarter.

Goalball has been around since the ‘50s and was introduced as a sport in the Paralympics in 1980.

The game is played with three player teams on opposite sides of the court; one team is on defense.

The team that is on offense rolls a ball, with a bell inside of it, on the floor across the court trying to get it past the three people who are defending their goal.

The game is a mix of bowling and soccer, except for the fact that all players are playing completely blindfolded.

“It brings that inclusiveness. It shows people what it’s like to be visually impaired in a way that words just can’t,” Josh Hackney said, one of the people responsible for introducing goalball to Central.

Goalball can be played by athletes with or without visual impairments and completely levels the playing field for anyone who wants to play.

For Hackney, that is one of the biggest reasons he wanted to play and bring the sport to Central’s campus.

Hackney recently hosted a goalball tournament at Central, where students with and without visual impairments came out to play and learn the sport.

Hackney said that he was pleased with how the tournament played out.

He was most excited about the new perspectives people had after playing as well as how much fun he noticed everyone was having.

“To see the smile on their faces, while also giving them that stress release, and have fun and do what you do… that’s why I want to bring adaptive recreation here,” Hackney said.

Hackney hopes to bring other sports to Central that students of any kind, with a disability or not, can play together

“Words can only do so much. I can tell people what it’s like to be blind,” Hackney said. “But I can’t show them like goalball and other sports do”

Hackney said it can get extremely competitive, and can do more than a normal sport can.