Goalball USA vs Japan

[dileizhan]

The sport was developed after WW2 for visually impaired veterans to aid in their rehabilitation, so it's a great way for the visually impaired to stay active and athletic.

However, from a competitive standpoint... three people lying down head to toe in a line pretty much covers the entire width of the net since the ball rolls on the ground? Or is there something I'm missing such as are the players allowed to have bounce shots?

[jasonmanny1]

holly shit, im in grade 6 and we play in gym, and the pace is slower than ... well the slowest thing on earth!

[GRolliRing]

i like the part with the ball and the girls

[Haisoj6119]

Pretty cool that blind people have their own sport. But the only way for them to enjoy it, would be to play it because they can't really watch it.

[duderilreez]

Its not stupid u have to wear blind folds n depend on ur hearing sumthin u might actually depend on later on in life cuz u never kno wats gonna happen to u so dnt make fun of this sport till u have tried it n if u havent n ur makin fun of visionally impaired children that like this sport stfu cuz we can do way better then u will ever do

[duderilreez]

Goalball is freakin awsome u get to hit ppl wit a big ball that rings

[23423465111223]

So lame...

[OutOfThisWorld21Oo]

This is a game for the legally blind like me leave us alone

[OutOfThisWorld21Oo]

That was no cool it actually very fun so your that low you make fun of inpared people

[TehMusicCentral]

It seems very hard to score because everyone just totally lays out on the court...

[kittykatro]

stupid game! they just lie down with their body stretched and it's impossible for the ball to enter the goal!

[elchasai]

the fat american in front can totally see

[TheRealVW]

this game is boring... you can tell where the ball is with your ears and all you need to do is lay down and block all the way..

[ItalianDogg]

@TheRealVW The ball is PURPOSELY made to be traced with ears since this is a game made for blind people, everyone got the right to play and practice sport, now think how difficult is to know where youl goal is and to cover it properly without the use of your sight.

[goalballchamp]

yeah go usa!!! I might play next year!

[goalballchamp]

yeah go usa!!!

[Treblemaker888]

My Cousin made it on team USA!!! 

[paisapunisher11]

wtfffffffff??????/ this is nutzzz

[Toddsrandomvids100]

Just realized they are wearing blindfolds. Pretty cool sport.

[anticliche321]

owch that must hurt falling over to block the ball

[norbette]

Hello. Great job for posting this kind of videos. A friend of mine is actually playing on the Romanian's team and from what he told me you have to be very focused on the sounds the ball makes. Coordination with team members is very important too. They usually tap the floor to know eachothers location. It"s not that easy to play tough ... I tried it and i lost ofc. Respect for all the players of this sport.

[azpandaman]

This look really fun, I'm not blind/partially blind, but it would be awesome to play this. really gets your other senses a workout :D

[joannesiano]

are u on this team? great sport!

[slayerfromabove]

all the stuff people invent to entertain themselves, were these seriously the 2 best teams in the world? or the only 2?

[superbluestudios]

what the fuck is goalball

[PdishmonkeyJJ]

@superbluestudios. sport for the blind

[torrobinson]

Ok, I think it's great that the blind have sports to play, but this is just hilarious. Oh hearing the ball, they all dive onto the floor to try block it at random... where's the skill?

[felRRR]

random? theres nothin random in this game. they re blocking the balls with their ears. and hopefully you hear that there are bells in it for localising....

[rachaelannedonnelly]

@torrobinson the skill is not just trying to block the ball but get it back down the court within 10 seconds of the ball being blocked. also you have to be able to judge where the ball is coming from and going to. whether you can see or not you are blindfolded. it's fantastic game and requires more skill then you think. it's a bit like tennis but with a bigger ball and no rackets.

[PinneappleProds]

listening..

we played it at our school and most of the people just sucked and , they actually dived randomly, and never blocked the ball..

[Duros56]

how did that guy miss the ball? what is he blind?

[TheHornyMushroom]

are you kidding?

[Duros56]

yes genius

[TheHornyMushroom]

well thats a stupid comment then.

[Duros56]

yeah you got me there

[brownieluver009]

@Duros56 yes they are blind thats the point of this sport its someyhing vlind people wiill do and there girls

[Duros56]

yeah i know. it was a joke. apparently not funny

[PinneappleProds]

not it was funny :)

[JesseFC101]

Under the catagory of you know you're cool when:

[Fleur114]

wow, I never heard, or seen this sport before. Are they blind folded?

[Jubu24]

no its theyre blind

[dirtwoodbiker90]

what.... the.... hell....

[sasukewife15]

omg

i meet one of the girl

on the U.S. team

during out turnament

i'm on the advanced team

at Texas School For The Blind And Visually Impared

i love this sport so much

[myemail0987654321]

they must have some damn good hearing.

[richrich27]

...

[enroserie]

I had to play this today, I found it very fun but IMPOSSIBLE! It's much more difficult than it looks and really makes me appreciate my eyesight. These people are extremely good athletes! :)

[radioaktiveman]

seems easy to me, even tho the players are blind/blindfolded

[Canman99]

I tried playing goalball with a blindfold on. It's amazing how focused you have to be to track the ball as it comes towards you.

Also, some people might not know this, but the white lines on the court are textured so you can feel where you are positionally.

[senser1080]

I can't stop loling

[FoxGoalie]

It looks so funny! I think it's the worst feeling in the world when you know the ball hits you but you don't know where and when and suddenly you get it into your balls :-D

If you play it I believe it's a heck of fun and all people who play it get my respect!

[friendlee2007]

LOL at first I was like what kind of shitty ass game is this. LOL didn't know they can't see the ball. My bad, much props.

[gregbest90]

basketball is my sport but this is incredible - props to goalballers.....

[galex78]

ya its a tough sport i play for the michigan team and height dosnt matter im 5-4 and play center and can cover a good protion of the court like all centers should bbe able to it may be hard but im good at it and its fun

[ihateyourface]

Surely it just makes sense to have the tallest players you can get?

Statistically, the Japanese are shorter, so straight away that is a big disadvantage isn't it?

[galex78]

no a good center can cover al most the hole court im 5-4 and can almost cover full court

[PuffMac]

But if you're 7'1 it's going to be far easier just to lie down than if you're 5' and you have to roll about all over the place.

[galex78]

at the same time you dont just want to be laying there you want to dive into the ball and literly block it wich woudnt make as much of a diffrence it would come down to timeing and skill but I dont disagree that height can help a little at the same time as that if your tal with no skill you screwed because you need good form as well or the ball will go right over you like a ramp

[Moppy3004]

For all.

All People are Blind. That's a Paralympics game.

[galex78]

no not all players are blind but they all have some visual imparment and are usaly at least leagaly blind and theres a diffrence between to 2

[MyNamesAustin2]

Wow that's some incredible stuff.

[iStack245]

Wow their is so much skill involved in this I had nidea. Are the people partially blind? Or are they really that well at telling where the ball is when their partners throw it to them.

[Robin917]

Everyone on the court is blindfolded and at the elite level, we all have some level of visual impairment but the blindfolds keep things equal between people with some sight and those with no sight at all. It takes practice to get the ear/hand coordination down and to be able to audibly track the ball. Thanks for the comment. :)

[Leyko4]

@iStack245 It doesn't matter how much sight each person has, because they're all completely blinded. There are bells inside the ball that the players listen for. It's the greatest sport in my opinion.

[Robin917]

To answer a couple questions people posted, the court dimensions are 9x18 meters and yes, we are pretty good. We (the USA Women's Team) won the gold medal in Beijing and the men placed 4th.

[galex78]

ya usa mens i acutly know 1 or 2 of the players they coach the michigan team wich im on

[KWNatureBoy]

I first started watching this and thought....wow this is dumb. Then I realized how much skill is actually involved in this...I know for a fact I couldnt do that. They have to do that completely by hearing..thats fucking impressive. Are the Americans good? Just something else we can brag about

[galex78]

usa has a freakin awsome team both girls and guys and I kniow first hand I know a few of the guys on the usa team

[mwoodsoccer]

looks so easy..the ball is huge how do u not stop it

[galex78]

not so easy when the ball is being throuwn as fast as it is the best players throw in the 30s and some people can throw 40mph that can go wizzing by you like you never knew and you can dive later or dive early or the wron g way its really not as easy as you think

[ohhwoody]

What's the width of the court?

[OmorosePanya]

That's what people don't know. The fact that you have to rely on your hearing makes a huge difference. I play this game and I'm surprised the Americans are so good at finding the ball when it's over the team line. They just get up and go straight to it. Lol, usually I have to feel like a madman for it.

[TheAmazingShua]

not really fair the americans are so much fatter!!

[OmorosePanya]

Not in that vid. Besides, body size doesn't matter at all because the bals not going to go up over you unless you have have terrible form. Now height is a different story. It'd be extremely difficult to beat a team who's players average 8 feet or something. They'd basically cover the entire court, lol.

[purplecandybuttercup]

It looks crazy but really cool. I would love to play it one day. It must take lots of practice to get that good.

[Simoneister]

...it's for blind people. Of course it will be completely different. But not stupid, actually I think it's quite a good idea.

[drumgoalartstack]

Thank you, Simon!!!

[vgmaster9]

Pretty interesting sport.

[ohlookitsanidiot]

yoo, we're playing that in gym class, its kinda fun!!!

[revengeseeker101]

yeah it's a good sport i played in the tournement down in alabama it was fun but i'm glad they have it because blind people and visually impaired with their disabillities they're not many sports they can play so it's a good thing they made it that way blind people and visually impaired people can have a sport to play

[elmstreet13]

i did 2 u know don't 4get about that

[vergoide]

hey guys i have this amazing idea, what if we mixed soccer, pong, bowling, synchronized falling and hours hours of fun together, we could call it goalball, we could like, be really good and go on a world tour and even battle Japan. It would be awesome.

[UBCMUN]

its designed for blind people, asshole

[elmstreet13]

like me and revengeseeker101

[wsilbery]

well said..lol

[marokflash]

i play this game today and thats why i decided to finf videos

this game is entertaining

its very fun

[brycecube94]

is there a way to make this a little different so u can play it with people who arent blind? just wondering

[laxiszlife]

yeah, blacked out goggles, ive played its really fun!

[Joe40oz]

It looks fun to play...maybe not so much fun to watch :)

[OmorosePanya]

It depends on who's playing. I was at the eastern conference and that was wild. The ball was jumping over the players and over the net and stuff. I think the audience must've set the record for longest time breath was held, because I know nobody was breathing during the final two games.

[alexmagnus1]

Sorry for a somewhat stupid question, but why to play goalball if ther is blind soccer? More challenging and more exciting to follow (for both sighted and blind people).

[oklam]

boooring

[tesko111]

they never score

[OmorosePanya]

Yeah. The Americans have perfect form so it's difficult. That and the Japanese keep throwing it straight at the Americans. You have to find the gaps, not the players.

[spinnerboyz]

lol, sorry for my comment, I didn't know that they were blind, sorry.

[MrLoot]

What did u say bout being too good to reply more than once?

[catgoh92]

erm..i am just confused..

are the athelites visualy impaired?

cos i can feel dat they noe where is the ball..

i don really understand dis sport..

[wtfttfg]

Yes, they're visually impaired or blind. The ball has bells in it so they can hear it.

[poprox2nv]

i worked for the United States Olympic Committee for many years. I have watched these athletes train just as hard as Phelps did to attain their spot in international sport eliteness. They have more try than any of you little S*#T talkers wish you had! Too bad you will never know what it is like to overcome BLINDNESS then get to stand on a podium with a GOLD medal around your neck. That is unless they make internet smack talking an event. you make me sick....

[twiggysp]

Maybe one day you both become blind...and, in that day show more respect...if there are any retard here it is you...

[spinnerboyz]

I agree with Jack3WW ;)

[MrLoot]

lol ur whipped

[bridgetj5]

This sport is way more fun to play than to watch.

[statikeffeck]

this is really weird to watch. anyone can play this, as long as you wear a blindfold. naturally blind people will be better players because they can hear better.

[anjajune]

Are the players wearing knee-pads and stuff like that? If I should play that sport I'd had to wrap myself in armour like the knights! Seems to be a pretty rough sport.

[dukewilleo1630]

These people are blind, not retarded. I think it is great that sport are invented for different disabilities.

[stevqtalent]

why are there lines on the ground?

[anjajune]

I just saw in another clip that the lines are made with tape and are 3 milimetres high. The players can feel the lines on the floor.

[stevqtalent]

k, thanks

[elmstreet13]

if the ball goes over that it's out

[thresholden]

I suppose you should be in this "retarded sport" considering its in the paralympics not the special Olympics, but by all means join, it doesn't seem like you know the difference.

[Jack3WW]

Even if you win, your still retarded, so i don't think it should even exist.

I have no reason to join because my parents aren't brother and sister like your's so im not a retard.

[h4rm]

"Your still retarded." Good one, retard. Anyways, it's a BLIND sport - I'm sure all of them are smarter, more accomplished than you, and are not dumb enought to misspell "You're."

[Jack3WW]

But i can still see, so i will always be better than these sub-humans.

[MrLoot]

AHAHAHAHAHHAAHAHA u got told! Jack3WW!

[jonideejay]

haha, oh wow

is this an olympic sport

[vgmaster9]

It's part of the Parlympics.

[TotalKO1]

lol

[carenada]

No tenia idea de la existencia de este deporte...pero me alegra que se busquen maneras de integrar a los discapacitados

[taiwanlatina]

awesome to see this on youtube, you ladies rock

[twistedvision18]

......this is the lamest sport ever....FISHING IS FUNNER TO WATCH THEN THIS

[domas789]

With this sport can play even blind peoples. You lame.

[goalballgods]

Ahhh finally goalball on the tube. Lovin it! I hope to see more of Worlds and the Paralympics. Just a comment to the video itself. A tripod would increase que quality tremendously.

[Robin917]

Gotta get our sport out there somehow! As for the tripod comment, I had nothing to do with the filming--I was busy on the court. A friend filmed it for us so I was just working with what he gave us.

[Taketshy]

nice game

[Lamington]

Hey Robin,

Good job on the uplink. As I have told you before...you are a masochist, throwing yourself around like that. A brutal sport.