Goalball

Goalball is a team sport designed for blind athletes. It was devised by Hanz Lorenzen (Austria), and Sepp Reindle (Germany), in 1946 in an effort to help in the rehabilitation of visually impaired World War II veterans. The sport evolved into a competitive game over the next few decades and was a demonstration event at the 1976 Summer Paralympics in Montreal. The sport's first world championship was held in Austria in 1978 and goalball became a full part of the Paralympics from the 1980 Summer Paralympics onwards.

The object of the game is to "roll" a ball which contains bells past the opposing team. There are two teams of 3 players which alternate rolling and defending. The offensive team rolls the ball in a manner that is either hard or soft, depending upon player style, in an attempt to get the ball past the opposing three players. The defensive team listens for the approach of the ball and attempts to prevent or block the ball from crossing the goal line. The ball is rolled back and forth with the offensive and defensive team alternating until time expires for the half. The game is played in two five or seven minute periods and the team with the most points wins. There are women's and men's teams with no differences in equipment or rules.

MSB hosted the conference’s first goalball tournament in 2004.