Goalball games

On 28-29 September 2019, the 2019 Japan Para Goalboll Games, commemorating the enthronement of the Emperor of Japan, took place at Makuhari Messe, where the first hands-on training for city volunteers for the 2020 Olympic Games took place. At Kaihin Makuhari Station, we gave Golden Ball information at the North and South entrances. This is normally done for international visitors, but there were very few of them. After the training, we went to the venue to watch the actual game. It was my first time to watch a game and it was quite interesting. I would like to show you a part of it. This time there were four teams, but because the Chinese team withdrew at the last minute, the Japanese team was suddenly placed in two groups. The ranking was USA in first place, Japan Team A in second place, Brazil in third place and Japan Team B in fourth place. The Japanese team won the Olympic Games in London.

A team ball game for the visually impaired. All players, from blind to low vision, must wear blindfolds in order to ensure a fair competition. The game is played between two teams with three players per team on a volleyball-sized (18m x 9m) court. The aim of the game is to score points by rolling a ball with a bell in it into the opponent's goal. Each game lasts 12 minutes, with extra time (3 minutes each for the first and second halves) played using the 'golden goal' system. The attackers use tactics such as speedballs and bouncing balls, aiming for a course that is difficult to defend, and throwing the ball in such a way as to make as little noise as possible so that the origin of the ball cannot be detected. The defenders can instantly detect the course of the ball by the sound of the bell in the ball, the footsteps of the opponents or the position of the bouncing ball, and then lie down to form a defensive wall to stop the ball. As the players play by sound, spectators are expected to remain quiet. The ball is specially designed for goalball and weighs 1.25 kg. It is expected that spectators watch the game quietly during play.

When pitching

After the pitch is thrown

immediately before the goal

At the goal!

Japanese team members