Goalball has been given the green light at Le Moyne College as an official club sport.
What is goalball? Goalball was originally designed for those who are blind and visually impaired, though seeing students are encouraged to join. Goalball is a game in which two teams of three players compete.
The object is to score in the opponent’s goal by bowling the ball across the floor while avoiding the defending team. The defending team is not allowed to run down the gym; they need to stay in their area, which is laid out by tape.
Crystal Lazarus, who is a freshman majoring in psychology from Queens, is the founder of goalball at Le Moyne. She has been playing since middle school. Lazarus was born blind and learned to play goalball at the New York Institute for Special Education, her school in the Bronx.
She brought the game to Le Moyne College campus life because she missed playing, thus allowing herself and others to play. She talked to David Willard, the director of recreation, fitness and wellness, and also reached out to the student government to make this happen. The goalball team was officially made a club.
Lazarus’ passion started in middle school, inspired by her sister and coach. “When I’m playing I feel, it’s just me and the ball. I just get that adrenaline rush that I just got to concentrate on myself, my teammates, and the game.”
She hopes for the future of goalball to get a girls’ and guys’ team and to get to play in other colleges. She also hopes that ‘seeing’ students are curious and interested in playing and learning about goalball, so the club gains more participants.
Max Slater experienced playing goalball. He is a freshman environmental science major. He learned about goalball through his COR-100 class with Professor Sean Kirst, where they went to the Recreation Center, near the end of term. He already knew Lazarus and some of her friends from New York City through a COR-100 trip to Manhattan: He describes her as having “a great spirit and a glowing personality.”
The COR-100 students were not required to participate in the sport unless they wanted to take part, but Slater found goalball super-interesting and wanted to experience it for himself.
Since goalball is a sport designed specifically for those with visual impairment, he and his “seeing” classmates had to be blindfolded. Slater believes the game should be practiced more widely throughout the United States and allows people without visual impairments to form close bonds and friendships with those who are visually impaired.
He states, “It’s important as it forces you to think without having sight, which is a powerful skill on and off the court.”
Abbie Riggins, a blind student at Le Moyne — majoring in human resources management with a minor in creative writing — is also involved with goalball on campus. She started playing goalball at eight-years-old at Camp Abilities, in Brockport. It is a nonprofit organization that seeks to introduce blind and visually impaired children to adaptive sports to give them the opportunity to learn about and enjoy different ways of engaging in athletic activities.
Riggins instantly fell in love with the game from the moment she was taught how to play. It’s a great sport that encourages teamwork for people of all abilities, and inclusive in that you don’t have to be blind or visually impaired to play since everyone is blindfolded.
Overall, goalball is regarded as a great way to challenge yourself while learning something new and staying active in progress.
The goalball club meets twice a month in the Recreation Center on court one. The club’s Instagram is @lmcgoalball; if interested in playing contact Crystal Lazarus at lazaruc@lemoyne.edu.