Women's Goalball squad target Tokyo 2020 after new funding award
The fast-paced sport for visually impaired people was awarded £125,000 from UK Sport. The one-off £3million grant was announced earlier this year by the Minister for Sport to bridge a gap between grassroots and elite funding, and is intended to get more of the UK’s best athletes competing at the highest international level.
Goalball UK previously did not receive any Government funding for its GB teams – meaning the national governing body has relied on creating other revenue streams in order to support their high-performance class athletes.
Mark Winder, CEO of Goalball UK, said:
"We are pleased that UK Sport have awarded our elite women athletes this funding. However, we have not received the full amount that our world-class athletes deserve, though this still represents a great opportunity to make competing at Tokyo 2020 a realistic target these women with a visual impairment.
"There has been a dramatic increase in participation in at the grassroots level, making it even more essential that there is goalball representation within Team GB at the Paralympics. Our women’s squad is currently in a position where qualification for Tokyo 2020 is achievable and we are now preparing to seize this opportunity through tournament success.
"We have spoken with the squad, and in spite of receiving less than we hoped for, the determination from the players shone through. Everyone in our sport will do what we can to see them reach the Paralympic Games.
"For Goalball UK to continue the remarkable progress we are making, particularly within the area of social impact – a key criteria for this fund, we need to create opportunities for our high-performance athletes.
"This funding will enable us to compete in more international tournaments and provide increased training camps in the UK to develop the potential of these athletes. However, we will not be able to provide the additional support we had intended, including sport science, increased strength and conditioning work, and building on our duty of care to our athletes."
Peter Elliott, the Non-Executive Director with responsibility for Performance and Talent of Goalball UK, commented:
"Participation in goalball throughout the UK has been growing phenomenally at the grassroots level. In the past four years alone, the sport has grown by 425 per cent. This is because of Sport England funding and a true legacy that participating in London 2012 delivered.
"But for the sport to continue on this remarkable journey we need to capitalise on this growth by having Britain’s best goalball players competing on the world stage. We’re happy that UK Sport have recognised an exciting sport that will do so much to inspire generations of blind and partially sighted athletes."
Goalball, originally devised as a rehabilitation programme for injured soldiers returning from World War II, was one of the hits of London 2012 with crowds cramming into the Copper Box to support the men and women’s teams.
Goalball is played by two teams of three players with a maximum of three substitutions on each team. The object of the game is to score a goal by bowling the ball along the floor so that it crosses the goal line of the opposing team.
